Skye Blue
by Jillvalentine44
Summary: Skye Rivers gets hired as Mort Rainey's personal assistant. Along the way, though, she begins to uncover terrifying secrets about Mr. Rainey who she continually grows fonder of... Will her judgement be clouded or can she see what's going on?
1. Desperate Angel

GREETINGS, ALL! Man, I'm getting so many fic ideas lately! Crazy! I've always wanted to start a Secret Window fic! Yayyyyy! This new character is really fun. She's inspired mostly by mah friend Angela! It should get pretty good - i have lots of ideas for it. HOPE YOU ALL LIKE IT!

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Disclaimer: I am not affiliated in any way with Johnny Depp or anything to do with Secret Window. Neither am I affiliated with any Jrockers or claim to own their souls. SO DONT SUE ME!

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CHAPTER 1: DESPERATE ANGEL

"So, for your first day here, you'll be editing a small piece of my new book." Mort Rainey explained to his new editor. "Let me get it… hang on…" He got up and went up stairs to search for his writing.

The day before, Skye Rivers had been hired by the acclaimed writer Mort Rainey to be his editor at home. She would also do a few things around the house. She was staying with him at his cabin in the room downstairs. He wasn't paying her a lot since she wasn't paying him any rent, but it was enough to get her by for a year before she went to graduate's school.

Skye was a smart girl with a very unique style. She had long, blue hair and dressed like a gothic punk. She didn't go overboard on the makeup - normal just mascara, foundation, and clear lip gloss. That particular day, she was wearing a short black skirt with blue vertical stripes on it with black fishnet tights under it. She had on a low cut black short sleeved shirt with a pinstriped jacket over it and a white tie around her neck. She loved to listen to music and would constantly have her headphones on, jamming out to music not so widely known by most people. She really was a sweet girl, not a bad person or anything, nothing bad like her appearance might let on.

"Alright, I found it." Mort said, coming down the stairs. He handed her what he had written and she looked at it.

"This is just one page…" she said.

"Well, yeah, but it took me three weeks to get it right." he told her, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Don't smoke." she warned. "There's a pretty good chance you'll die."

"There's a chance I'm going to get abducted by aliens but do you see me preparing?" he asked, annoyed.

"Fine. Die then." she stated. "Second hand smoking is taking me with you, anyway."

"Just edit, will you?" Mort asked, irritated. "That's what I pay you for." She smiled falsely and looked over the paper. He got up and headed for the kitchen, tripping over an empty bottle of Jack Daniels. "Damn it! This place is never clean! When you're done editing - you said it was _just_ one page - clean up a little for me."

"Of course, Mr. Rainey." she replied sweetly, rolling her eyes when he wasn't looking. She pulled out her headphones and CD player and started listening to some music.

"Sorry I snapped like that - I've got a short temper lately." he told her. She didn't reply; she couldn't hear him over her music. He looked back at her. "Miss Rivers? …Miss Rivers? MISS RIVERS!" She still didn't hear him. He walked over to her and just stood next to her until she looked up at him. She pulled her headphones off.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"I just said something to you." he said, anger bubbling.

"Sorry, I was listening to hide." Authors note: hide is pronounced hee-day. Skye apologized.

"…Listening to who?" Mort asked, clueless.

"hide!" Skye exclaimed. She sighed at his ignorance. "He is a former singer of the Japanese rock band X Japan - my personal favorite. He sadly passed away a few years ago, but spun off his own career from the band and was very successful, putting out several CD's of his own."

"Why did I even ask?" Mort said. "I really don't care at all. Look, just edit, alright? But turn that thing down - you'll blow your brains out."

"Whatever." Skye replied.

"If it doesn't, I will - it kills me when people don't listen to me!" he yelled.

"Fine. Sorry." she surrendered. "Quiet hide, then."

"Yeah…" Mort replied. He turned around and went back into the kitchen. "Again, sorry I snapped at you - both times."

"It's okay - lot of stress being a writer, right?" she said. "Fans and pressure and all."

"Yeah." he replied. Silence followed. He didn't have anything to say and she had no reason to listen and he was annoyed by not saying anything about it. "Listen to your music." he surrendered. "Loud as you want - I don't care."

She shrugged and turned her music up. She hummed a little until it got to the point where she was singing quietly.

"Pink spider!" she sang. "Mou dame da! Pink spider! Sora wa mieru no ni! Pink spider!" He was growing annoyed with this and went to her, carrying a bottle of Jack Daniels. She was leaning back on the couch with one foot up on the coffee table. She saw him come and looked up questioningly, pulling off her headphones.

"How can you sing and edit at the same time?" he asked.

"I don't have to think about hide." she told him obviously. "I know his songs by heart."

"…Do you know Japanese?" he asked curiously.

"Nope. Just listen to the music." she replied.

He wondered why he asked. What did he care? "Oh." he offered the bottle to her.

"Don't drink." she told him. "Pata drinks Jack Daniels, you know. Pata was the guitarist for X Japan. Every picture you see of him, he has a bottle of it in his hands." Mort shrugged, unable to care any less. "You shouldn't drink either. Along with your smoking. You know you're going to die."

"I'm aware of that." he stated condescendingly, returning to the kitchen to make a sandwich. She replaced her headphones on her head. He looked through the cabinets and realized he had nothing to make a sandwich with. He sighed. "I'm going out."

She looked up, pulling her headphones off her head again. "What?"

"I'm going out!" he yelled, annoyed. "I just want a fing sandwich! Can't even get that!"

"Woah, watch your language, Mr. Rainey." she warned.

"Clean up this place while I'm gone!" he ordered and stormed out of the cabin.

"That man needs to get some anger management." she muttered. She finished editing his writing and went upstairs. She placed it on his desk and looked around. She spotted a CD player… "Oh, he's gone anyway." She went downstairs, got a CD, and put it in the player. X Japan started playing quietly. She turned the music up extremely loud while she started to clean up.

She looked around the upstairs area and noticed the state of everything. Everything on his desk and the whole area itself was unorganized. As the feeling of being alone set in, she realized that there was something about this house… What was it about this house that made her feel funny? She felt uneasy like… something was there, watching her every moment. It felt like the walls were closing in on her… like something wasn't right… Suddenly, the phone rang. She was standing right next to it, so she could hear it over the music. She hurried to the CD player and hit pause. She then ran back to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Skye?"

"Yes?"

"This is your mother." the voice on the other line said. "How are you?"

"Fine…" Skye replied doggedly.

"Just fine?" her mother asked. "You told me you were living with this Morton Rainey and I'm worried to death."

"Why would you be worried?" Skye asked blankly. 'Never cared before.' she thought.

"Because!" her mother exclaimed. "You're up there in the middle of nowhere with some strange man you don't even know!"

"He's really nice, mother." Skye told her, neglecting to mention the hellish temper problem. "Don't worry."

"Well, I do worry. …Look, Skye, why don't you just stop with this idea of being a writer in the first place?" her mother asked. "It's not realistic. You can't do it."

"Yes, I can." Skye told her. "I'm studying with a professional writer now. Besides, when I go back to college to get my master's, I'll be ready - I'll know what to do even more."

"How many famous writers are out there? Only a few make it big."

"I don't care - I just want something published." Skye explained. "I want to express myself through my books."

"I still don't think it's a good idea." her mother piped in.

Skye clenched her fists. Her mother did this every time. Constantly: "you can't," "only a few get big," "what if you don't make enough money?" Every time. Why can't she just be encouraging and supportive?

'Why does she always have to be such an idiot!' Skye thought angrily.

"It's my life - I'll do what I want." Skye said defiantly.

"Why can't you listen to me like you did when you were little?" her mother asked. "Your sister still listens to me! You're just like your brother! No regard for anything but yourself! You're another one of those bad people who don't listen to their parents! Do you know what I went through to raise you right?"

"Yes, I do…" Skye said wearily.

"Why do you insist on being just like your brother!"

"I'm not…"

"Yes, you are!" her mother cried. "You'll never change! You're one of them now! Fine! I still have your sister anyway!"

CLICK.

The dial tone buzzed in Skye's ears as tears came to her eyes. She was so angry, she could just… Something about this house… didn't help her anger… The house felt twisted in some way. Like it knew a secret and was dying to tell it. The house increased the tension in the air and Skye wondered what she would do if her mother were actually there; it seemed the house would've fed into an impulse…

Skye sniffled, violently rubbing her eyes, and went back to the CD player. She pushed play and music blared throughout the house. She overcame her distress and started to clean, picking up empty Jack Daniels bottles as she went.

"This man is seriously another Pata…" she muttered.

"Hi Ho!" hide sang from the CD player. She sang along with it, continuing to clean. "Hi Ho!"

Finally, she finished cleaning the main part of the house. She looked around for more to clean; she was on a roll! She came to the door to his room and placed her hand on the doorknob.

'Well, hey, might as well clean it for him.' she thought and opened the door. The room was messy as heck! 'Oh, man… Well, I've got nothing else to do…' She finished cleaning his room and exited.

'There's nothing to do now…' she thought. She looked around for something interesting to do and spotted one of his books on a high shelf. 'That looks interesting…'

Mort drove up to his house and got out of the car. He could hear the music from outside. He sighed in annoyance and went up to the front door which was vibrating from the noise. He went inside the house and was hit with a blast of music.

"CELEBRATION! RING A BELL, SWING YOUR HEART, SING A SONG!" the music blared. He covered his ears and proceeded upstairs to axe murder the CD player. "CELEBRATION! THROW AWAY, SAIL AWAY, SHOUT IT OUT!"

He looked around and saw her at a bookshelf, reaching up fro a book which consequently made her skirt shorter. He was distracted by this for a moment, but then realized his eardrums were about to burst. He hurried to the CD player and shut it off. She quickly turned around.

"Oh, Mr. Rainey, hi!" she greeted cheerfully. "I cleaned like you asked."

"Don't play your music that loud!" Mort cried, ears ringing. "I felt like my head was going to explode!"

"Sorry." she apologized. "it's X Japan - I have to play it loud. …That's just… X Japan…"

He sighed. "I left the groceries in the car - would you get them for me?" he asked.

"Sure!" she replied. She went out to the car and retrieved the groceries.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" Mort yelled, bounding down the stairs.

"C-Cleaned the house…" she stuttered, startled.

"You went into my room!" he yelled. "What were you thinking!"

She set the groceries on the counter. "Calm down. Afraid I'm going to find the dead body you keep under your bed?" She sniggered and went into her room.

He stood for a moment, thinking. Suddenly, his eyes widened and he ran upstairs to his room. He flung the door open and dashed to his bed. He looked under it and sighed in relief at the emptiness residing there and the fact that there was no dead body.

Suddenly, the phone rang. He left his room and answered it.

"Hello?" Mort answered.

"Hello? Is this Mort Rainey?"

"Yes…"

"This is Delilah - Skye's mother." she said.

"Oh, hello." he replied. "She's doing a very good job right now…"

"Well, look, I'm calling because I want to warn you not to _touch_ my daughter. She's young and innocent and doesn't realize what risk she's taking living with some strange man." Delilah scolded.

"Mrs. Rivers, I-"

"Mrs. Orwell." she corrected. "Divorced my husband years ago."

Mort twitched, holding back anger. "_Mrs. Orwell_… I can assure you that your daughter is quite safe here - you don't have to worry."

"Well, I do worry." Skye's mother replied strictly. "And I won't hesitate to sue you."

CLICK. Mort stared at the phone as the dial tone sounded in his ear. He hung up, angry at Skye's mother's rudeness. He went downstairs and knocked on Skye's door.

She opened the door. "Yeah?"

"Uh, your mother just called…" he told her.

"Oh, no…" Skye replied. "She's insane - ignore everything she says. I'm sorry. She was probably rude."

"Yeah…" he said. He looked around her room, seeing that she had been putting up posters. "Who are these people?"

"Huh? Oh! Jrockers!" she told him, going to a poster of a Jrocker dressed in a kimono, wearing lots of makeup.

"She's pretty." he said, examining the poster.

Skye laughed. "Yeah, that's Gackt. He's a man."

He paused. "…No…"

"Yeah."

"… …Eugh!" he exclaimed. "I'm staying out of here!"

"Hahaha!" she laughed. "Don't worry - it's happened to me, too. I thought this one Jrocker was really hot - turns out he was a woman… Japan can really mess with your head."

"Uh… anyway… your mother told me she'd sue me if I touched you."

"Ugh! She's such an idiot!" Skye cried. "I could just slap her sometimes!"

_Hit her_. A voice said in the back of her head. _Kick her. Stab her. Kill her._

"I didn't say that!" she cried.

"…What?" Mort asked.

"Huh? Oh - nothing…" Skye dismissed. "Um… I'm going to lie down… I have a headache…" She shut the door.

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Yay! Chapter 1! Shall we all have a CE-LE-BER-ATION? Yes, let's! Drinks all around! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it! YAY FOR JROCK! Go listen now. GO! But first, leave me a review! REVIEW! PLEASE!


	2. Rusty Nail

Hello, everyone! I need reviews! So... review! And tell your friends to read and review my fic! Feh... Anyway, thanks a ton to Lip Butter for a review that brightened up a really sucky day! Thanks, man! Anyway, enjoy!

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CHAPTER 2: RUSTY NAIL

Skye didn't wake up again until the next morning. She groggily got ready for the day and went out into the living room. She'd sloppily dressed and thrown on makeup without even noticing if she'd done it right.

"Morning, Mr. Rainey…" Skye greeted tiredly.

"You slept forever!" Mort exclaimed. "I thought you died!"

"Yeah… headaches do that to me…" she replied and went to the refrigerator and opened it. She pulled out a Vanilla Frapuccino and popped it open.

"Anyway, sleep well?" Mort asked rather cheerfully, joining her at the fridge. She looked at him exhaustedly. He smiled awkwardly and noticed something… "Oh… your… your makeup…"

"What? What's wrong with it?" she asked tiredly.

"Your lipstick." he said. He reached over and fixed her lipstick with his thumb. She blushed awkwardly. "Uh, thanks."

"Sure - my late wife always used to… well, never mind…" he trailed off.

"No, tell me about her." Skye said, interested.

He looked at her. "Well, she… she always used to smudge her makeup before she left in the morning - I always had to fix it for her…"

"You know, I never heard what happened to her - how did she die, if you don't mind me asking."

"No one knows." he told her. "She and the, er, man she was seeing disappeared a year ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry… wait… the… man she was seeing?" she asked confusedly.

"Yeah, we were about to get a divorce - she was leaving me for someone…"

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry…" she said awkwardly, turning away from him. She gulped down some Frapuccino and went over to the couch. She picked up the newspaper and read an article inside it.

"Bodies still not found." she read. Mort sat down next to her. "Tom Greenleaf, Kenneth Karsch-" Suddenly, Mort snatched the paper from her.

"This is old news." Mort told her. "Stupid local paper…" He got up and stuffed the paper in the trash, tossing scraps of breakfast in on top of it. She stared at him for a moment, but shrugged it off.

"Um… I was thinking of going into town today if you've got nothing for me to do…" Skye said.

"Sure - yeah. That's fine." Mort replied.

"Could I… borrow your car so I don't have to take a cab?" she asked.

"Yeah, go ahead." Mort told her. "What are you going to do in town?"

"Oh, I need to buy a Stephen King book - he's one of my favorites." she said, getting up and going to the door. She pulled they keys off the hook next to it. "I'll be back later." Mort nodded and she left.

She drove into town, radio blasting. She finally pulled up to a bookstore and parked. She got out and went inside. After journeying for the book she was looking for, she finally found it and sat down in a chair at the back of the store. A few moments later, a girl came and sat down next to her to read as well.

"Oh, hi - I couldn't help but notice we have the same book." the girl said.

"Oh… yeah." Skye replied, eyeing the covers of both books. "I'm a huge fan."

"Yeah, me too." the girl told her. "Um… you're new in town, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm Skye." Skye introduced.

"Nice to meet you." the girl said. "I'm Amanda Greenleaf." Greenleaf… where had she heard that name before…? "So, how long have you been a fan?" she asked, holding up the book.

"Like… eight years, I think."

"Wow! Yeah, I've been a fan for six." Amanda told her. "My grandpa got me into his books. Tom Greenleaf - I don't know if you knew him. He had read most of them… except this one… He died before he could read it."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Skye said. Tom Greenleaf… that's right… the paper this morning… 'Bodies still not found. Tom Greenleaf, Kenneth Karsch…' Mort had been really weird about that paper… Why? She looked at her watch and then up at Amanda. "Oh, man, I'm sorry - I have to go. It was nice to have met you."

"You too." Amanda replied cheerfully.

"See you around." Skye bid. She paid for her book and left. On her way to the car, she realized she needed something from the store, so she hurried in, bought what she needed, and hurried out.

She drove back to the cabin and went inside. Mort was in the kitchen, just about to sit down for lunch.

"I'm back, Mr. Rainey." Skye greeted.

"Oh, hi." he greeted. "Just about to eat lunch. You want a sandwich? I made one for you."

"Uh, sure - thanks." she replied, sitting down at the table with him. "That's sort of… freakishly nice of you…"

"Yeah, I've been in a bad mood the last few weeks - I'm over it now." he said. "I know what I'm going to write about."

"Oh? What?"

"I can't tell you yet." he stated. "You'll have to wait and see. …I have a great ending planned. It's perfect. That's the best part of the story, after all."

"Hm. I can't wait."

"Me either." he said. He placed a sandwich on a plate and pushed it towards her. "So, what book did you get?"

"The Shining." she replied.

"Ah." Mort said, starting on his sandwich. "Great book. Great writer. Seeing people who aren't there and all that - very clever."

"Yeah, it's one of my favorites." Skye told him. "Uh… I met someone in town. Her name was Amanda Greenleaf - she was very nice. Do you know her?"

Mort faltered. "I, uh… I knew her grandfather. Killed a year ago - such a tragedy. …You might want to stay away from that when you talk to her - it's a sensitive subject with her… and everyone else in town, really. You probably don't want to mention me either. I was a pretty good friend of his. Memories, you know."

"Yeah - sure." Skye said. "I understand." That's it. That's why he tossed the paper this morning. He was a good friend of his and just doesn't want to think about it. She took a bite out of the sandwich. "Mm. This is good. Roast beef is my favorite."

"Mine too - what a coincidence." he added.

She smiled and continued eating. He was obviously staring at her because when she looked up, he quickly looked away. He put his sandwich down and went to the fridge.

"You want a drink?" he asked.

"Sure." she replied.

"All I have besides Jack Daniels is Mountain Dew." he said. "Is that alright?"

"Mm hm." she nodded. He handed a can of Mountain Dew to her. "Thanks." He sat down again and they continued eating in awkward silence. "The weather's nice, isn't it?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, really hot outside." he replied.

She looked out at the lake. "…Can I go swimming?"

"What?" he asked, taken off guard.

"In the lake." she said.

"Uh, yeah, sure…" he replied.

"Great!" she exclaimed. She finished her lunch and went into her room to change. A little while later, she left her room, carrying a towel. She was wearing a black and red striped swimsuit. It was a two piece: surf shorts and a halter top that came together in the front with a circular link.

"This is awesome!" she exclaimed. "It's like having a private pool, only… better! And a lot bigger! You're so lucky to live right next to this pretty lake!"

"Yeah, it's great…" he replied, distracted by her apparel.

"You going to join me?" she asked, putting her hair in pigtails.

"Uh, I don't think so." he told him. "I'll just, uh… sit on the dock."

"Alright." she said. They headed out to the lake and walked down the dock. He sat down as she dropped two towels on the dock.

"Oh, don't just jump-"

SPLASH! She jumped off the dock and water flew everywhere, soaking Mort. He took his glasses off and cleaned them. She surfaced and laughed at him.

"Thanks." he said flatly.

"Anytime." she replied, smiling.

"So… Miss Rivers, what-"

"Call me Skye." she interrupted.

"Right. Well, uh, what is your family situation like?" he asked. "Always looking for things to think about - writer and all."

"Well, I lived with my mom and stepdad for a while." she told him, idly swimming around. "My stepdad is a huge jerk, but my mom won't listen to me. My dad married off a long time ago and left. My mom, as you know, is crazy - if I didn't agree with everything she said, she'd shun me. I hate being shunned, so I tried to stay in line. Until I got to college, of course, in which case I bought a bunch of goth-punk clothes and dyed my hair and majored in creative writing."

"Interesting…" he said.

"Yeah, that's life." she replied. "Sucks. Hard.My whole life was like... walking on rusty nails. 'Oh, rusty nail!' Sorry, X Japan song. But hey, it happens." She was going to ask about his life, but realized that his late wife would probably into the picture, so she avoided it. She didn't want to stir anything up.

"So, er, so what else?" he asked. "Do you have any other family?"

"Yeah, my brother - he's 26 - pretty much rebelled from my parents. Especially my mom because she's so controlling and crazy." Skye explained. "He's a painter, actually. Lives in Chicago." She continued to swim around idly. "My sister is… what is she now? 17? 18? 17. That's it. 17. Yeah. She totally conforms to my mom. I can't blame her, really. I did until I went to college."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"A lot of mental punishment - I suffered a ton. But life happens, as it were." she told him. "I conformed because I thought it'd be less painful… Maybe it was, I don't know… Either way, I'm really screwed up."

"You seem fine to me."

"Yeah, you'd think, wouldn't you?" she asked. She sighed. "Well, it doesn't matter, anyway. I'm here now and my mom is far away." She heaved herself up on the dock and sat down next to him. "You're really saving me here, you know. No one's ever given me a chance like this before… I just want you to know how thankful I am to you."

"Oh, well, uh… you're welcome, of course." he said. "Everyone deserves a chance, right?" She nodded. "You're a nice girl, anyway. Don't seem like the type who'd cheat on anyone."

She blinked. That was random… "Yeah… there's no way I'd do that. Those people suck. Terrible."

"Yeah, I agree." he told her. A moment of silence passed. "So… do you have anyone back home? Like… anyone… you're involved with?"

"Oh, no." she replied. "No, no. Not at all. Guys tend to, uh… sense my weirdness. They stay away. Most of them, anyway. Too many eccentricities, I suppose." She stood up. "But… I don't like many of them either, so it doesn't matter. I'm really picky…" He stood up as well. "But whatever. I'll find someone." He nodded. "My mom never stops pestering me about it."

"Eh, she's insane." he said.

"Yeah." she agreed. "You know, the water really is great." She got an idea. He really needs to loosen up… "These are cute." She reached up and took his glasses off and examined them. She put them on and he laughed. "They're kind of big…" She looked out at the lake, taking the glasses off. "What's that?" she asked; he looked out at the lake as well, squinting.

"I don't know, I can't see." he said. "You have my eyes."

Suddenly, she shoved him forward, into the water. He surfaced, looking annoyed; she laughed at him.

"_What_ did you do that for?" he asked.

"You need to relax - you're too uptight." she told him.

"But… did I have to get wet to achieve that?" he asked.

"I certainly think so." she replied, handing his glasses to him.

"Yeah, thanks." he replied, putting his glasses on, once again distracted by her apparel especially since she'd just leaned over to hand him his glasses, revealing more of her cleavage.

She jumped in as well, splashing him and soaking his glasses.

"Great, I'm blind." he said flatly.

"Can you really not see without them?" she asked.

"Well, no, it's not that bad - just a little fuzzy." he replied. "But it's annoying."

"Well, then, I'm sorry." she told him.

"That still doesn't excuse you." he said. "Take this!" He splashed her in the face.

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "_You_ take _this_!" She splashed him several times. They laughed.

The next few minutes were spent in a splashing battle which ultimately ended in mutual defeat. They laughed and climbed back up on the deck.

"See? It's fun to just let go sometimes." she said. She picked up one of the towls and dried off. She picked up the other one and tossed it to Mort. "This _was _going to be for my hair, but I think you need it more."

"How gracious. Thanks." he said sarcastically.

They went into the house and went to their rooms to change.

"Let's watch a movie." Skye suggested when they reunited in the living room.

"Alright… which one?" he asked. "I don't think I have very many…"

"Do you have a DVD player?" she asked. "Because I brought my PS2 - I can set that up."

"No, I don't have one - just VHS." he replied.

"That's fine!" she told him. "I'll set it all up!" She happily went back to her room, retrieved her PS2, and set it up in the living room. "Okay, why don't we watch my favorite movie, then?" She took out a DVD and put it in the PS2. He sat down on the couch.

"Which is…?" he asked.

"Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece: _Psycho_." she replied happily.

"Ah." he said. "A classic."

"Yeah." she replied, pushing X on the controller to make the DVD play. "You know, you'd be surprised how much Norman Bates's mother and my mother have in common." He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Well, not dead… obviously… But the whole mental torturing thing. And I didn't kill her like Norman killed his. Not that I haven't thought about it…" She looked at him. "Sorry, I'm probably freaking you out."

"No, I understand." he told her. "We've all thought about it at some point."

"Yeah…" she said. "Wow… people usually recommend I get therapy when I say things like that."

"Well, we writers usually understand each other pretty well." he replied. "You can always talk to me, Miss Rivers."

"Call me Skye." she stated.

"How comical is it that your name is Skye and your hair is sky blue?" he asked. "Was that intentional?"

She laughed. "No, I… never even connected it before."

"Well, it happens to be my favorite color." he said.

"Really?" she asked. "Well, make sure you spell it right from now on. Skye with an E - Skye blue."

"I'll remember that." he told her. "Maybe I'll mention it in my new book, huh?"

"That would be awesome." she said sincerely. "Oh! Before Marion gets to the Bates Motel, I bought some Bananas Foster ice cream. It's really addicting. I have to have some. You want any?"

"Is it good?" he asked.

"I've eaten about 750,000 cartons of it - yes, it's the best." she replied.

"750,000, huh?" he asked. "Sure, I'll have some."

She fixed them some ice cream and sat down next to him on the couch, handing him a bowl of ice cream.

"Oh, this is good!" he exclaimed, trying it.

"I told you." she said. They concentrated on the movie for a little while.

"Hitchcock is my favorite director - easy." he told her. "I don't see a lot of movies, but the man's a genius."

"Yes! He's my favorite, too!" she agreed happily. He smiled and returned his gaze to the TV. She stared at the TV, but wasn't thinking about Janet Leigh or Anthony Perkins. Mort and she had a lot in common… He was a writer, liked Alfred Hitchcock, liked the color blue (her favorite color as well), and he was just a really nice guy when he didn't lose his temper. And… okay, it can't go unmentioned any longer. He was totally gorgeous.

Later, the movie ended and Skye turned off the PS2 and switched it to some random channel. They had talked about the brilliance of _Psycho_ and were now pretty tired. She sat down next to him once again as the commercial ended and the show started.

"Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a faithful trip!" the people on TV sang.

"Oh,_ Gilligan's Island_! I love this show." she said.

"Yeah, me too." he agreed.

"Really?" she asked. "I don't run across a lot of Gilligan fans."

"Yeah, I watch it all the time." he told her. "My favorite is the, uh… one with the guy… Where they go to the guy's island and they get their minds put into each other's bodies and get all mixed up and stuff. Have you seen that one?"

"Yeah! That… might be my favorite, too, actually!" she replied happily.

"Wow." he said with a chuckle. She smiled and they watched TV for a little while. Eventually, they both started to get pretty tired, but didn't do anything about it. Skye drifted off to sleep, her head involuntarily resting on his shoulder. Just as that happened, he fell asleep as well, involuntarily resting his head on hers.

No one had ever really understood her before. Not like this. Never like this…

* * *

Okay, I realize that chapter was character development and was kind of uneventful, but I promise that chapter 3 will be better! Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE:gets on hands and knees: PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! Or I'll do it, I swear I will! Okay, kidding! Anyway, thanks for reading! Please review!


	3. Endless Rain

Thanks to Lip Butter and Johnny'shumiliatedgrape for reviewing! YOU GUYS ARE SO SWEET:tears of joy: Also thanks to DAFTLIKESPARROW who is continually inspiring me! She will be putting up a Secret Window fanfic at some point as well! I have read bits of it and IT ROCKS! Keep an eye out for it.

Okay, ENJOY!

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CHAPTER 3: ENDLESS RAIN

The next morning, Skye woke up, lying on the couch with a blanket draped over her. She remembered how she'd fallen asleep… She sat up looked around. Mort was in the kitchen, making pancakes.

"Good morning, Mr. Rainey." she said.

"Oh, good morning, Skye." he greeted, turning to see her.

"Um… thanks for the, uh…" she held up the blanket.

"Sure." he replied.

"Did I sleep very long?" she asked, getting up.

"No, it's only ten. I got up at seven." he told her. "I guess we just both fell asleep at the same time."

"I guess. Um, I'm going to get dressed and all." she said.

He nodded and she went into her room. She put on a short, blood red skirt with black diagonal stripes, black fishnet tights, and a black spaghetti strap shirt with a black pleather jacket over it, also a red tie around her neck. She readied herself for the day (also applying her makeup which today consisted of mascara and very red lipstick that matched her skirt), and went back into the kitchen where Mort was finishing making breakfast. She grabbed a Frappuccino from the fridge and sat down at the table.

"So… anything for me to edit today?" she asked.

"Yeah, actually." he replied. "I wrote for two and a half hours this morning. I was really inspired wrote three pages."

"Wow. Three pages in two and a half hours." she said, impressed. "That's great."

"That's not sarcasm, is it?" he asked, putting pancakes on two plates.

"No, you forget I'm a writer, too." she told him.

"That's right." he recalled, putting a plate of pancakes in front of her. He sat down with pancakes as well. "I'd like to read some of your writing sometime."

"…Really?" she asked.

"Of course." he replied. "You're a very interesting girl probably have some great stories to tell."

She smiled. "Well, I like to think so."

"After breakfast, then?" he asked. "You'll let me read some of it?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." she told him, pouring syrup on the pancakes.

"Great it's a date." he said. She blushed a little, but he didn't see it. "Oh, may I have the syrup?"

"Oh… yeah." She held it out to him and just as he grabbed onto it, their hands touched, causing a very awkward moment (from Skye's point of view, anyway). She quickly let go of it luckily, he had a good grip on it, so it didn't fall. She hoped she would get over moments like this because if she was going to live with him for a while, she would have to get used to doing things like passing the syrup…

After breakfast, she got some of her writing and gave it to Mort to read. She edited while he read. She put her headphones on and started listening to some music (not as loud as usual, though). He looked up, interested.

"What are you listening to?" he asked.

"Breaking Benjamin." she replied.

"Is that… that Japanese music, too?"

"No, they're American." she told him. "Good stuff. Yeah, I like all sorts of music, not just Jrock."

"Hmm."

"Here, listen. You might like them." she said, holding out her headphones.

"They're a little too new age for me, I'd think." he replied.

"Just listen." she told him. He the headphones next to his ears, it was too loud for him to put on.

"Show me how it ends, it's alright show me how defenseless you really are!" the CD player played. "Satisfied and empty inside that's alright, let's give this another try!"

He handed the headphones back to her. "It's a little harder rock than I'm used to, but it's not bad." he said.

"I just love them." she added happily. He went back to reading and she went back to editing.

After a little while, Skye finished editing and went upstairs to put his writing on his desk. She went back downstairs and walked by him, curiously glancing at what page he was on. He noticed this and looked up at her.

"Oh, sorry." she apologized.

"No, it's alright." he told her. "This is really good."

"Really?" she asked. "Because there's always room for improvement and I wouldn't be offended if"

"No, really, I'm impressed." he said.

"…Really?"

"Yeah, I'm going to keep reading definitely." he told her, going back to reading.

About an hour later, he finished reading the long story she had written.

"That was excellent." he told her. "Honestly. You're going to be a bestseller seriously."

"Wow! Thank you!" she replied, extremely happy.

"You know… I'm feeling pretty inspired." he said. "But I need more inspiration… Come talk to me it usually helps the inspiration process." She sat down next to him on the couch and turned off her CD player. She put it on the coffee table.

Just then, thunder sounded. They hadn't even noticed, but the sky had clouded over and it had started to rain.

"Oh, I love rain." Skye said.

"Me too." he replied, as they looked out the window. "We have a lot in common, you know."

"Yeah, I noticed." she told him.

"Well, uh… anyway, what was your high school experience like?" he asked. "This is book-related, I promise, not just totally random."

She laughed. "Well, uh, high school sucked a lot for me. I didn't want to do homework, I wanted to write all the time. Failed a few classed because of it. Luckily, I later learned to manage school and writing, and was able to graduate on time. …But that wasn't the only reason it sucked… I didn't have many friends. Just a few. I was a complete geek."

"Oh, me too in high school." he told her. "Got beaten up a lot."

"Oh, that's sad!" she exclaimed. "Well, I never got beaten up, but… made fun of a lot. I mean, I'm still a geek always will be but it wasn't so welcomed in my high school."

Suddenly, the phone rang. Mort went to it and answered it.

"Hello?" he said, carrying the phone to the coffee table, and sat back down next to Skye.

"Hello, may I speak to Skye?" It was Skye's mother.

"Sure, hang on a second." he replied. He held the phone out to Skye. "It's your mother."

"Ugh…" Skye groaned quietly. She took the phone from him and reluctantly put it to her ear. "Hello, mother."

"You're always so formal, Skye, why?" her mother asked. Mort, sitting right next to Skye, could hear every word that was being said by both parties.

"Why not?" Skye replied.

Her mother sighed loudly. "Anyway, I called because I started to get worried again."

"Why would you be worried this time?"

"Because you haven't called me!" her mother pressed.

"I had no reason to call." Skye told her.

"You know that when your sister goes out, even if it's just to a friends house, she calls very often."

"Well, I don't have the time to call that often." Skye said. "You shouldn't worry. I'm fine."

"I don't trust that Mort Rainey." her mother told her. "He didn't sound like a very reliable person. He sounded very untrustworthy."

"Don't say that, mother, you don't even know h"

"Well, you be careful." her mother scolded. "All men want the same thing. I worry about you being up there alone with that man. He could rape you and no one would be there to help you."

"He wouldn't do that." Skye stated. "He's"

"And how do you know?" her mother asked. "That man who… did what he did to me when I was your age seemed like he wouldn't do that either. I don't even know why I let you go up there." Skye sighed. "You think you have him pegged, but he could change at any moment."

"Mother, really, he's"

"I respected what my mother taught me." her mother scolded. "Every word she told me, I listened and obeyed. She was never wrong. You don't have the brains to think for yourself, Skye, that's what parents are for."

"Well, I think I'm old enough"

"Until the day she died, I listened to my mother. She also taught me that being a housewife is the best place for a woman."

"That's not what I'm meant for." Skye told her mother. "I write. I can't waste my tal"

"My mother wasn't wrong!" her mother yelled. "She was never wrong! Why can't you be like your sister!" By this time, Skye's eyes were watering. "And about this writing thing. It's just a phase, I'm sure."

"A phase!" Skye exclaimed. "I majored in it in college! I've been writing for"

"You'll change your mind when you find out that you can't make money." her mother scolded.

_I want to kill her. I want to kill her. It would be so easy…_ the voice in the back of her head said.

_'_No, I would never do that it's wrong.' she thought.

"Only a few writers make it big, you know."

"Not really, there's plenty of"

"You only look at the good parts of this writing thing. You don't realize that you need something to fall back on." her mother continued.

"There are lots of positions for writers, not just books." Skye said. "There's screenwriters for TV and movies, and"

"Again, how many make it?" her mother interrupted. "God, why can't I just have a _normal_ daughter?" A tear ran down Skye's cheek. Mort pitied her immensely. He got up and went to the other side of the room quickly.

"Skye, can you come here, please?" Mort called to her. "I would like for you to edit something for me!" She looked up at him and caught on.

"Oh, mother, I have to go, Mr. Rainey wants me to edit something for him." Skye said as Mort sat back down next to her.

Her mother sighed. "Alright, but as I said, you be careful of that man. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

"Right." Skye replied doggedly. "Alright, bye." She hung up the phone. "Thanks for that." She sniffled, looking up at him. "She can be so cruel sometimes… Yeah, that's my mother. Lived with her torture my entire life. You heard her, right?"

"Yeah, every word." he said. "She actually said that you didn't have brains to think for yourself? That that's what parents are for?"

"Yeah."

"You're in your twenties!" he exclaimed. "Wow, she's insane. I'd like to tell her 'That's what straightjackets are for.'" She laughed and nodded. He reached over and wiped a tear from her cheek. She blushed at the awkward moment. "Why do you deal with her?"

"Because… well truthfully… I want my education. I need her money."

"Well… you know… I can help you out with that." he told her. "I've got some money from my few published books. You should tell her off."

"Oh, no, I could never let you do that." she replied. Thunder sounded and rain beat the windows.

"No, I could." Mort told her. "It's like an investment. I read your book, it was great. _Comeuppance _it was called?"

"Yeah." she said. "But I still couldn't possibly accept that…"

"Well, you think on it." he told her. She nodded. "So, uh, you were telling me about high school. Did you date much?"

"Oh, no, no, no." she replied. "Not at all, actually. As I said yesterday, they, uh, they stay away." She looked out the window.

He shook his head. "I couldn't imagine why."

"Well, I'm weird." she said. "And… just… weird… I was always writing, anyway. Wasn't really interested in dating. It was pretty mutual, you know, they weren't interested in me either."

"Well, those guys must've had really, really bad taste." he told her. She looked up at him. "I mean, I find you very interesting."

"I, um, I'm sure you're the only one…" Suddenly, thunder crashed extremely loudly. Skye jumped. She sighed. "Sorry, I get kind of tense when I talk to my mom… and thunder kind of scares me anyway."

"You know, I've really never met anyone like you before." he said. She looked at him. "You're… unique and funny and… we have so much in common." She smiled. "I really like you, Skye."

"I, uh… I really like you, too, Mr. Rainey." she replied a little nervously, blushing a bit. He placed a hand on her cheek, leaned in, and kissed her.

'Oh, this is like… a "Forever Love" moment!' she thought, referring to an X Japan song. She put her hand on the side of his head and ran her fingers through his hair. 'Wow, his hair is soft… I need to ask him what shampoo he uses.' He pulled her closer and put his arms around her, and she put her arms around his neck. 'So much Jrock! It's a little like "Endless Rain!" Okay, maybe I shouldn't be thinking about Jrock right now…' Finally, they pulled away from each other. Mort smiled and stood up.

"You know, I think I'm going to go out for a drive." he told her. "Helps my inspiration." She nodded. "You'll behave until I get back, won't you?" he asked, smiling.

"I'll do my best." she replied, smiling as well. He grabbed his car keys and opened the door.

"Bye." he bid, waving to her.

"Bye." she said, waving back to him. She sat a minute, still a little stunned. She finally got up and went into the bathroom to check her makeup. She looked in the mirror and saw that her lipstick was severely smudged. She fixed it and reapplied it. She went back into the living room and sat down on the couch.

_Well, Mr. Rainey sure has a mouth on him, doesn't he?_ the voice in the back of her head said._ Looks like you'll get something out of this besides just a job…_ She shook her head, trying to rid the thoughts._ Mother is really getting on your nerves, huh? You know, when it gets to be Christmas, you can go back home and push her out of her bedroom window. She's on the third floor, isn't she? Or, you could pour soap on the bathroom floor and she could slip on it and break her head open on the bathtub._ Skye didn't abandon these thoughts. It really would be easy… She shook her head anyway, knowing how bad it is to kill people..

She turned the TV on and watched random stuff for about an hour. She decided to get up and do something. She stood up and a feeling hit her. The house again… She was alone and there was still something about the house… Twisted… Cold… Watchful… Like something was looking at her from underneath it… The house poured oil on her fiery anger at her mother…

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Skye jumped at the sound of it. She pulled herself together and went to the door to answer it. She opened the door and saw the sheriff standing there.

"Yes?" Skye asked.

"Hello, is Mr. Rainey at home?" the sheriff asked.

"Uh, no, he just went out." Skye replied, running her fingers through her hair nervously as she was still a little jumpy. "Is there something _I _can help you with?"

"Well, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Sure, come on in." she said; he entered. She shut the door and they sat down in the living area.

"I'm the sheriff here at Tashmore Lake, can I ask who you are?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Skye apologized. "I'm Skye Rivers, Mr. Rainey's personal editor."

"Personal editor, huh?" he asked. "Well, I want to warn you about something. You live here with Mr. Rainey, don't you?" Skye nodded. "You'd do best nto to get very close to him." Skye shifted uncomfortably. "He's suspected of the murder of four people."

Skye blinked. "Wh-what?" she asked, getting a little dizzy.

"Well, about a year ago…" the sheriff explained the events that surrounded the four dead people who were possibly killed by Mort: Amy Rainey, Ted Milner, Kenneth Karcsh, and Tom Greenleaf.

Skye gulped, the worst case scenario running through her mind. It could be possible… but… No. No, it couldn't. Not the Mort she grew so fond of. She shook off the feeling and came to her senses.

"N-no, Mr. Rainey wouldn't do anything like that." Skye dismissed. "He's a nice man. A little strange sometimes, but he wouldn't kill anyone. He's a great writer, you know he says I have potential"

"Be that as it may, the circumstances were just too coincidental." the sheriff interrupted. "We've never found the bodies, but we certainly plan to."

"I can assure you he didn't do that." Skye stated. "He's a good person."

The sheriff sighed. "Alright… but if you see anything strange, please call."

"Of course." Skye said. "I hope you find whoever did it."

"…Yeah…" the sheriff replied. He tipped his hat to her and left.

She thought for a moment. She didn't know what to do, so she decided to go out and wander around the grounds. She grabbed an umbrella by the door and walked outside. She looked at the garden on the side of the house that was growing corn.

"Think he has enough corn growing?" Skye muttered. She spotted a window right next to her and realized the soil under it was empty no flowers or anything. It looked out of place. "Maybe I'll plant flowers for him there someday…"

She paced over to the corn and looked at it idly. She ran her finger along the stalk out of sheer boredom.

"What are you doing?" Mort asked sharply.

"Oh, hi, Mr. Rainey." she greeted, turning to look at him. "Just looking at your garden. Lots of corn."

"Yeah, don't touch it." Mort told her, trying to hide his panic. "The smallest disturbance could ruin it."

"Oh, sorry." she apologized. A moment of silence went by.

"You want to tell me something?" he asked sharply. She looked at him questioningly. "I saw that sheriff driving away from here. What did he tell you?"

"What?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. Nothing. He wanted to talk to you, but you weren't here, so he left." she lied.

"That's all?" he asked. "Did he ask you anything?"

"Not really." she lied again. "Just who I was and stuff. Curious, I guess. I mean, no one really knows I'm here except my family… I guess he was a little surprised."

"What did you tell him?"

"I said I was Skye Rivers, your personal editor." she replied. "That's right, isn't it?" she asked jokingly.

"Yeah… yeah, of course it is." Mort said, relieved. "You know me I tend to panic pretty easily. Sorry." (Which is exactly why Skye wasn't telling him what the sheriff said).

"Yeah, of course. It's fine. Don't worry about it." she dismissed. After a moment, she realized he was getting soaked, just standing in the rain like that. "Oh, here, you're getting all wet!" She hurried over to him, holding the umbrella up to shelter them both.

"Thanks." he said and they went inside.

"Get any inspiration?" she asked.

"A little." he replied. "I'm hungry, though."

"Oh, I'll make something." she told him. She took her jacket off and tossed it on the couch. He noticed the fact that she was wearing a spaghetti strap tank top and was a little distracted for a moment. She went into the kitchen and looked in the cabinets. "What should I make?"

"Actually, I went out and picked some corn out of the garden this morning. It's in a bowl over there." Mort said, gesturing to the other side of the kitchen.

"Ooh, that sounds good." she replied, going over to the bowl and retrieving the corn to cook. He joined her in the kitchen and helped her shuck the corn. He glanced over at her every once in a while because of the tank top, but she didn't notice it.

Skye didn't realize what was so significant about the corn. She didn't know what was under it. What she did know was that she was starting to like Mort more and more by the day…

* * *

Alrighty! Hope you all liked the chapter! Gasp! SOMETHING FINALLY HAPPENED! Yay! Anyway, for those of you who are unfamilliar with Jrock... I suggest you download some. It's really awesome. Ask me for the best of the best picks. Cuz my taste is flawless. Haha, jk. Anyway, I do hope you liked the chapter! Im hoping to draw a picture of Skye soon. I'll probably use Peachgirl art as something to look off of. When I do draw her, I'll be putting it in my Deviantart gallery which you can access from my profile page.

PLEASE REVIEW!


	4. Forever Love

FINALLY I UPDATE! Sorry for the wait! Had to get into college! But guess what! I did! w00t! Anyway, thanks so much to all who reviewed! YOU ROCK MY SOCKS!

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CHAPTER 4: FOREVER LOVE

The next day, Skye got up and dressed. She wore a black pinstripe skirt with blue mesh inside its pleats and had blue cross-laced ribbon on the front and lace-up ribbon on the back, and her usual black fishnets. Also, a vinyl corset top that had three zippers down the front and straps that buckled at the top of the shoulders, with a skinny blue tie around her neck. It was a little different from her other outfits, but it was a really cool outfit and that's all that mattered. She went into the kitchen and sat down.

"Morning, Mr. Rainey." she greeted.

"Oh, good morning, Skye." he replied, making French toast. He turned around. "Wow… Uh, you, look… different."

"It's a little more gothic than usual, but I haven't worn it in a while." she replied, as he put a plate of French toast in front of her. He sat down as well.

_Talk to him, Skye. What exactly is going on between you two?_ A voice from the back of her head suggested. She considered this for a moment while she ate her French toast.

'No. I'll wait for him to bring it up.' she thought.

_He's a man -- you'll be waiting until the police find Jimmy Hoffa. It's up to you._

She nonetheless decided to wait. She looked up at him. "So, are you, er… going to work on your book today?"

"Yeah, I think so." he replied. "It's coming along really well -- you must be a muse."

She chuckled, got up, and went to the fridge. "Well, I hope so. I know how precious inspiration is." She pulled out a Frappucino. "Oh, this is the last one…"

"Yeah, I drank one this morning to wake up -- sorry." he said.

"No, it's fine, that's what they're there for." she told him, sitting back down. "You know… I was wondering if I could borrow a copy of one of your books. I haven't read all of them yet."

"Sure, of course." he replied.

She finished her breakfast and headed into town. She would get one of his books later. In town, everyone she passed stared oddly at her. No one in Tashmore Lake looked like that. Everyone had normal colored hair and normal clothes. She stopped in to the Robbins's store and bought Vanilla Frappucinos. No one spoke to her unless she spoke to them and when they did speak, it was with distaste.

She drove back to the cabin and found Mort right where she left him: upstairs at his desk, staring at his computer screen.

"Hey, Mr. Rainey." she greeted, putting the Frappucinos in the fridge.

"Oh, hi, Skye." he replied.

"You get some writing done today?" she asked, going upstairs to join him.

"Yeah, actually." he told her proudly. "Half a page."

"That's great!" she exclaimed. "Do you want me to edit it for you?"

"No, not yet." he said, getting up. "You know, I feel like going out and doing something. Do you want to see a movie or something?"

"Uh, sure." she agreed.

"Sounds good." he said as they went downstairs. "What do you want to see?"

"A horror movie! They're… my favorite." she replied.

"Well, let's be on our way, then." he concluded.

They went out to the car and headed to the movie theater in New London. They bought tickets to a horror movie, got popcorn and drinks, and took seats near the front of the theater.

After the movie ended, they went out to the car. Skye was cheerfully talking about the movie, but Mort was a little jumpy. Skye thoroughly enjoyed it, but it only left Mort paranoid. They drove back to the cabin, talking about random things on the way. They stopped at a light and Mort looked in the rearview mirror.

"That's a nice car." he said, turning around to look at it. He smoothly put his arm across Skye's seat and returned his eyes to the road. She glanced over at him and quickly glanced away. They pulled up to the cabin and Mort stopped the car. He took the key out of the ignition and put his keys on the dashboard.

_Looks like you're not going anywhere._

'You shut up.' she thought angrily. 'Hm… now might be a good time to ask him about us…'

He slid his arm down so it was successfully around her shoulders.

"Um… Mr. Rainey…" Skye began, "I… wanted to talk to you about--" Just then, he leaned over and kissed her.

'It can wait.' she thought, placing her hand on the side of his head. After the kiss ended (and it wasn't short, mind you), he pulled away and looked at her.

"So what did you want to tell me?" he asked.

She was speechless for a moment, wondering what to say. "Uh… I… um… really like your hair."

'Crap.' she thought.

He laughed. "Thank you." he replied. "I like yours, too."

_You chicken! Just ask him!_

"Well, um… shall we?" he suggested, gesturing toward the house.

A twinge of a different meaning hit Skye for a moment, but she quickly shook it off. "Oh, yeah, of course." They got out of the car and headed for the house. They stepped inside and Skye went to her room to put her purse down. She went back into the living room and came up behind Mort to get his attention. She tapped him on the shoulder.

"AH!" he yelled, wheeling around. She burst out laughing. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Oh, that was priceless." she laughed. He sighed in annoyance and went to the kitchen. He went to the fridge and pulled out a Mountain Dew. He opened it and chugged some of it down. He put it down on the table and went to her. He put his arm around her waist.

"So you going to call your mom tomorrow and tell her you're living with your boyfriend?" he asked jokingly.

She laughed. "Oh, she would skin me alive."

"Well, we don't want that." Mort told her, going to the couch and sitting down.

"Uh, anyway, I think I'm off to bed -- I'm pretty tired." she said.

"Alright -- good night, then." he bid.

"Good night." she replied and turned to go.

"Hey, wait." he added. She turned back around and looked at him. "Come here." She went to him and he took her hand, pulling her closer to him. He kissed her. "Now it's really good night." She smiled and went to her room.

'See, I didn't need to pry to find out what was going on between us.' Skye thought.

_Eh, you got lucky. A boyfriend now, huh? That's a first. And one so hot -- yeesh._

She smiled at the fact that he was, in fact, her boyfriend. Life was alright. Yeah, it was pretty good. For once. Finally.

The next day, Skye went into town to the Robbins's store to get a few groceries. She picked up what she needed and went to the register to check out. The same girl was at the register as before.

"You're new in town." the girl said cheerfully. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm staying with Mr. Rainey -- I'm his personal editor." Skye replied.

The girl faltered. "…Oh. Well, uh, that's nice… Uh, it was… nice to meet you…"

"You too…" Skye replied, wondering why she'd just been totally blown off. She tapped her foot impatiently while the girl checked out the groceries.

"Wait." the girl said. "I'm sorry… We just… hear a lot of strange things about Mr. Rainey…"

"I've heard them." Skye told her. "I'm sure they're not true."

"I really am sorry about that." the girl apologized. She held out her hand to Skye, who shook it. "I'm Mischa Robbins. My family owns this store, so… whenever you need something, I'm always here."

"Thanks." Skye replied sincerely.

"You know, we don't get many blue haired girls in this town." Mischa told her. "I wanted to dye my hair… but my parents won't let me."

"…How old are you?" Skye asked.

"Seventeen." Mischa replied.

"Ah, got it." Skye said. "I understand. I didn't get to do this until I was eighteen. If my mother had her way, I still wouldn't have done it."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty two." Skye told her. "Fresh out of college."

"Oh? What were you studying?" Mischa asked curiously.

"I want to be a writer." Skye replied. "Half the reason I'm staying with Mr. Rainey."

"…Can I ask you something?" Mischa asked, lowering her voice. "What is Mr. Rainey like? I've always thought he was… well… really good looking…"

Skye laughed quietly. "Yeah, he is. He's a really nice guy. I don't see why everyone thinks he… did things he didn't…"

"Hmm..." Mischa said. "So… you get to spend all this time around him? Wow, I don't think I could last… he _is _really hot…"

"Yeah, can't say I'm complaining living there." Skye said. "Every minute of every day."

"Oh, wow!" Mischa squealed excitedly. She finished bagging Skye's groceries. "Well, it really was nice meeting you. You can stop in anytime."

"Thanks -- it's really nice of you." Skye replied. "You know, why don't you call me sometime? Maybe you can come over and we can hang out?"

"Oh, that would be awesome!" Mischa exclaimed. Skye wrote down Mort's phone number and handed it to her.

"This is Mr. Rainey's number, considering I'm staying there. So if he answers, you know why." Skye said.

"Thanks!" Mischa said happily. "It'll be great to see Mr. Rainey again -- he doesn't come into town anymore. He goes to New London to shop. He's not really allowed here because of all the rumors, you know… Do you _like _him?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, I do." Skye replied, smiling. She could tell her about her _involvement _with him later…

"I thought so." Mischa said. Skye looked out the window. "I know you want to screw him."

Skye looked at Mischa. "What!"

"I-I said, I guess I'll see you soon, then." Mischa stuttered, startled by Skye's outburst.

"Oh… right. Right, sorry, I'm a little tired." Skye dismissed. "Yeah, I'll see you soon." Skye grabbed her bags and rushed out. She jumped in the car and started driving back up to the cabin.

'What is wrong with me lately?' Skye thought. She turned on the radio and turned it up. 'Oh, good, one of my favorites. Nickelback.'

"…And I like the way you still say please while you're looking up at me -- you're like my favorite damn disease!" the radio blared. "And I love the places that we go, and I love the people that you know!"

She tapped the steering wheel along with the beat. She sighed, thinking about what had just happened.

'Why would I even think she'd say that?' she thought. 'She's a really nice girl… and I do not want to… do that…'

"And now I know who you are -- it wasn't that hard just to figure you out!" the music blared.

_You sure you don't want to?_ A voice in the back of her head taunted.

"And I like the way you like me best -- and I like the way you're not impressed when you put me to the test!"

'Yes.'

_Really? You really sure? You haven't even thought about it?_

'Of course not.'

_Is that so? I was sure you checked him out several times._

'Checking people out and screwing them are two very different things, stupid.'

_Prize winning scholar here. You've thought about it. I know you have. You can't fool me._

'Shut up -- what do you know?'

_I know quite a lot, actually. You should listen to me. …You honestly think_ _he hasn't thought about it? _… _He has. You haven't seen him look at you?_

"And I love the good times that you wreck, and I love your lack of self respect while you're passed out on the deck! I like my hands around your neck!"

'I don't have eyes in the back of my head!'

_Well, he looks. He's thought about it._

'How could you possibly know?'

_I see and hear things you don't, Skye. He's thought about it. I don't know how many times he's thought about just ripping one of your short skirts right off you._

"SHUT UP!" she screamed, swerving the car. Luckily, she was on an empty road and didn't hit anything. She got her bearings back and turned the music up to drown out her thoughts.

"And I like the way you still say please when you're looking up at me -- you're like my favorite damn disease!" the music blared, louder than before, successfully drowning out Skye's thoughts. "And I hate the places that we go! And I hate the people that you know!"

She kept the radio at full blast until she pulled up to the cabin. She turned the radio down before she turned off the car's engine so the next time Mort drove, he wouldn't have a heart attack when the car started. She grabbed the groceries and went inside the cabin.

"I'm back, Mr. Rainey!" she called, tossing the keys on the hook by the door. She went into the kitchen and set the bags down on the counter.

"Oh, hey, Skye." he greeted. She turned around and paused. Just her luck. Of course. Why would luck treat her any differently? He'd just gotten out of a shower and had a towel wrapped low around his hips; he was still wet… She wheeled around and put some groceries in the fridge. "How was town?"

"Oh, fine." she said uneasily, avoiding looking at him. "I met a very nice girl."

"Oh? Maybe I know her -- what's her name?"

"Mischa -- Mischa Robbins." Skye replied.

"Ohh… yeah, I remember her." Mort recalled. "I used to go into her family's store all the time."

"Yeah, she's very nice." Skye said. "I said I'd invite her over sometime."

"Oh… Well, that's nice…" A moment of silence past which she spent pretending to organize the fridge. "Are you alright? You seem a little distant."

"No, I'm fine." she told him, looking up at him to make her statement more convincing. Of course, the situation _would_ get worse. Just as she looked up, he started drying his hair with another towel and it was very… very… attractive… She quickly buried her head in the fridge again.

_Why resist, Skye? Look at that body…_

"Well," she abruptly started, blocking her thoughts out, "I'm going to take a nap. Very tired." She shut the fridge and avoided looking at him. "I won't sleep as long as I usually do -- I promise."

_Hell, ask him to join you._

She rushed into her room and flopped down onto her bed.

'Just let me handle my own life!' Skye thought angrily. 'Quit saying stupid things! Just leave me alone!'

_Skye, Skye… don't you realize that I help you?_

'You do not! Just leave me alone! LEAVE ME ALONE!'

Silence… Silence… Silence…

She sighed in relief and drifted off to sleep.

She woke up a few hours later and staggered tiredly out into the living room and went to the fridge. A note was taped to the handle. She pulled it off and read it:

"Fancy meeting you here." the note said. She smiled. "Went out for a drive. Hoping to find more inspiration. Be back later. Mort." She sighed and decided to just wander around in lieu of something else to do.

She went out to the shed and looked around for anything interesting.

'Oh, poppy seeds!' she thought, grabbing a pack of seeds off a shelf. 'That window… I need to plant stuff there - it looks so barren. Hm… he's out for a while… why not?' She grabbed a watering can and trowel and headed out to the window with the empty soil under it. She sat down and dug a hole to plant the seeds.

CLANK. The trowel hit something… She dug up whatever she was hitting and pulled out a screwdriver with a red handle. The sharp end was encrusted with blood…

She jumped at the sight and dropped it. Heart racing, she buried it again. She ran back to the shed and replaced the seeds, watering can, and trowel.

'No…' she thought. 'He was framed… That's it… He has to have been framed…'

She hurried into the house and washed her hands. She ran into her room and flopped stomach-first onto her bed. She buried her face into her pillow and started crying from worry.

'He was framed…' she thought.

_He wasn't framed, baka! You're just a stupid little girl with a crush on a big, bad boy. You're in too deep, Skye._

'Shut up!' she thought, crying. 'Shut up! You lie!'

_I'm not lying, I'm being sensible._

'I _know _Mort! He's such a great writer! A genius in his field!"

_So was the Phantom of the Opera - he was a psycho, too._

"Stop it!" she screamed aloud. She sniffled. "Look at me… talking to myself… I need to stop - I'll go crazy."

_You're already there…_

She got up and ran to her bathroom. She flung open her medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle of sleeping pills. She fished out two of them and tossed them in her mouth. She filled a small cup with water and washed down the pills. Sleep… she could escape in sleep…

A little while later, Mort got home and hung his keys on the hook by the door. He tossed his jacket on the back of a chair and went to find Skye.

"Skye!" he called. He peeked into her room and saw she was asleep. "Still asleep? That can't be good for her…" He went over to her and decided to wake her up. She was going to way oversleep at this rate. He put a hand on her shoulder and shook her. "Skye. Skye, wake up." Nothing. "Wow, out like a light…" He left her room and shut the door. He went upstairs and sat down at his desk. "The ending…" he muttered, thinking, pulling out what he'd written of his new book. "It'll end just like it's supposed to…" He opened one of his desk drawers and saw a hat. A plain black hat, but it seemed to mean more than that. He stared at it for a while and then shut the drawer quickly. "…The perfect ending… He'll get the girl back. He'll get her good… …Before she can break his heart… he'll break hers and then finish it… Hm… arsenic…"

* * *

Ooh, sinister. HOPE YOU ENJOYED! PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Love Replica

I'M FINALLY UPDATING! Seems I always come back saying that, huh? Anyway, yay for inspiration! This chapter took me a while, but I find it satisfactory. I must say one thing, though... WARNING! I have to say, this chapter has a warning on it for language and (certainly not graphic at all) sexual content. Shame me! I'm sorry if I offend anyone! I love you guys...

By the way, if I hadn't stated it before, all the chapter titles are X Japan songs. So that's why some of them sound weird... like this one... ;

Thanks to everyone who reviewed... wait a sec! Only iliveinmiddleearth reviewed chapter 4! Oh, I am saddened! Guys! I need your support! Well, thank YOU, iliveinmiddleearth! I love you! Love love love! And to the rest of you, you are probably busy living your lives and doing constructive things, so worry not! There's life besides fanfiction, contradictory to what I say! I hope you return to me!

ENJOY!

* * *

CHAPTER 5: LOVE REPLICA

Time went on for a few months. Everything went fairly normally. Mort was getting more engrossed in his writing than ever. He and Skye had gotten a lot closer, he had even told her he loved her. Skye was turning out to be a little clingy, actually, but it didn't bother Mort very much. He enjoyed the love. Skye and Mischa hung out every once in a while, but Mischa would always want to go to Skye's place. She knew it was just to stare at Mort, but all in all, Mischa was a really nice girl.

Skye had driven the thought of the screwdriver out of her mind. Obviously he was framed or… there… was a logical explanation…. Anyway, she didn't want to ask him about it. His temper, you know…

Skye's mother sent her a cell phone so she could call in case of any kind of emergency, which was kind of annoying because her mother called constantly. This wasn't making Skye feel any better. Every time she talked to her mother, she seemed to get more and more depressed. Mort was there for her, but not enough. He was busy on his new book and she didn't blame him. She had started reading his book _Everybody Drops the Dime_, particularly _Secret Window_. It intrigued her to no end.

One day, while she was cleaning Mort's bookshelf while he was out, she came upon something stuck behind the books. She pulled it out curiously and read over it. It seemed like an early manuscript of _Secret Window_, from the story, but… the characters and ending were different. Plus, it was titled _Sowing Season_. She liked the title _Secret Window_ better… But… the ending… it was fascinating. The character… killed his wife and buried her in the garden. Twisted, but what a great ending. She replaced it behind the books and went on cleaning.

Because of all the calls from Skye's mother, Skye was starting to listen to music a lot more than she used to. Preferably "Scars" by X Japan or "Obscure" by Dir en Grey. She seemed to be more depressed, even though she should be happy because she had Mort. She started noticing a bit more odd behavior on his part, but didn't think it to be anything important.

One night, Skye and Mort had gotten into a bit of a rather difficult situation to get out of… Started out as a simple kiss, but ended up on Mort's bed. She was trying to get herself to say something, do something to get out of this, but was having a hard time with self control. She still had time to back out, but… that darn self control. Her hand just happened to fall off the side of the bed, and she felt something. There was something hidden under the mattress, sticking out just a little. It felt like a book… But this was the least of her worries right now.

"…Mort, we shouldn't be doing this…" she told him between kisses.

"Well, why shouldn't we, sugar?" he asked, with a bit of a… southern accent…?

She laughed. "Got a bit of an accent for a second there -- what's up with that?"

He cleared his throat. "I was just… joking around, of course." he replied a little uneasily.

"Um… look, I really… this just isn't…" she hesitated and struggled for words. "…We shouldn't be doing this." She pushed him away and got up. "I'm… sorry…" She quickly turned and started to leave.

"Skye!" he called. She turned and looked at him. "It's alright." She smiled a little, and left the room.

She rushed to her room and readied for bed. Her mind buzzed. That was a pretty close call there… Something serious could've happened. But then… he wasn't even angry when she… erm… _denied _him, for want of a better word. He hadn't lost his temper in a really long time and… certainly when he did, it wasn't directed at her. He was Mort. She knew him. She could trust him. The thought of the blood-encrusted screwdriver popped into her head for a fleeting moment, but she dismissed it. Too complicated. She _loathed_ change when it came down to it, and decided to keep her mouth shut about it.

The next day, she went in for breakfast and Mort, as usual, had already been up to make it. Darn tasty looking pancakes were sitting on the table and Skye made a beeline for them.

"Morning." she greeted, still a little timid from yesterday's event.

"Oh, morning." he greeted cheerfully. "I went into town earlier and bought something to add to breakfast."

"Yeah?" she asked, wondering where he was going with this.

He picked up a bowl and placed it in front of her, a look of self-satisfaction on his face. She looked down at it and registered--

"Strawberries!" she exclaimed happily. "Did I tell you about that? My strawberry infatuation?"

"You did." he replied, smiling. "Took me a good half hour to pick out the best ones."

She smiled widely. What a sweet thing of him to do! She popped a strawberry in her mouth and chewed it gleefully.

"Oh, these are perfect." she told him. "Thank you."

He smiled and continued with the making of breakfast. "So, how are your Japanese rocker friends?"

She laughed and looked up at him. "Oh, they're pretty good. Gackt recently turned 465 years old."

"Really?" he asked. "Well, I think he's too old for you."

She laughed and went on with her breakfast.

As the day progressed, he seemed to be doing a lot of really sweet little things for her. After breakfast, he even told her that he would be spending the entire day with her. She wondered if he just felt guilty about yesterday, but it didn't matter. Fact was, he was a total sweetie. They didn't have a lot to do, really, but ended up finding something amusing. Skye had laughingly suggested a good round of _Mortal Kombat_ on her PS2, but they actually ended up playing it for a few hours. Mort was awful at it, but had a lot more fun than he thought he would.

"As Sub-Zero or Frost, there's just no stopping me." Skye told him, laughing.

"Hey, I wasn't so bad with the vampire lady." Mort said, laughing as well. "But you made me quit the match and pick a different character because you didn't like her revealing outfit!"

"Well, it made me uncomfortable!" she replied with a smile. "I don't like the idea of my boyfriend being able to control a woman who looks like that! Besides, you weren't all that great as her -- you kept doing that cheap trick move where you do the blood-sucking thing! That's cheap."

"_That's_ cheap!" he exclaimed, laughing. "You impaled me twenty times!"

"With a legal sword."

"I had legal fangs."

"Ohh, you're too clever to argue with!" she concluded, laughing. She turned off the PS2 and sat back down on the couch, next to him. Just then, Skye's cell phone rang. She was tempted to ignore it, but knew her mother would call the S.W.A.T. team if she didn't answer it… Skye reluctantly got up and picked up her phone. She sat back down on the couch. Just as she was about to answer it, Mort snatched it away from her and answered it instead.

"Hello?" he asked, knowing perfectly well who it was.

"…Hello? Is Skye alright?" Skye's mother asked, panicking like an idiot.

"Of course she is." he replied.

"Well, then, why are you answering her phone?" she asked cautiously.

"Because she's busy right now." he told her.

"Busy?" she asked irritably. "Busy with what?"

"Well, living, I'd gather." he answered with cheek. "She's got a life, you know. Can't have her phone with her every moment of the day, can she?" Skye looked horrified.

"I really dislike your attitude, you know that?" her mother stated angrily. "You have no respect! And I really hate this business of my daughter living in the same house with you! How old are you, anyway?"

"What if I told you I was 465?" he asked, smiling at Skye. Skye laughed quietly.

"What kind of answer is that!" her mother yelled angrily.

"You don't have to snap, it was just a question." Mort said calmly. "Anyway, that's personal."

"Personal! Isn't it printed in all your books!"

"Well, then, why don't you go read one and find out?" he suggested and ended the call. Skye had her mouth open, staring at him, marveling at his bravery. "Hey, _you're _scared of her, baby, _I'm _not." She had to laugh at what he'd said to her.

"Oh, 465... she must really think you're crazy." she laughed.

"Who cares?" he dismissed and kissed her.

The rest of the day was rather romantic. And rather peaceful, seeing as how Skye's mother hadn't bothered to call back -- yet. Skye was happy -- really happy. Things were changing. And they'd change even more. Before Skye went off to bed, Mort gave her a Hollywood-worthy goodnight kiss, which, after concluding, made her accidentally walk into the door frame instead of the door. Luckily, Mort had already made it upstairs by the time this happened because she was kind of stunned for a minute. She entered her room happily, rubbing her door frame attacked forehead, and went over to her CD player. She got out a CD and stared at it. She was in love, so it was okay to listen to this kind of thing… Against her better judgment (but much to her enjoyment) she listened to the entire Gackt "Love Letter" CD before going to bed contently.

The next day, Skye went out into town to buy a few groceries. She entered the Robbins's store and greeted Mischa cheerfully. Skye bought a few things and summed up the previous day to Mischa who was thoroughly jealous.

Back at the cabin, Mort was sorting through the laundry absentmindedly. He was idly separating Skye's clothes from his, thinking about his life. Fact was, he couldn't deny that he didn't want to be… _closer _to Skye, but if she wasn't ready yet, he didn't really want to push her into it. …But it had been _months_. They'd been together for _months_. There are plenty of people who jump in after a few _weeks_… Honestly, didn't she think he loved her? Didn't she believe him? Well, maybe it had nothing to do with that. She's hardly dated, let alone… the other one…

In the end, Mort decided to just wait until Skye was okay with it. At that moment, though, he ran across one of Skye's brightly colored bras in the laundry. He curled his lip at his bad luck that this would come up right now -- when he was thinking about this particular subject… He coughed uncomfortably and dropped the item into the pile with the rest of Skye's things.

After a little while, Skye returned to the cabin and put away the groceries. Mort was up at his computer, staring blankly at the screen. It had started to storm outside and the pleasant sound of rain could be heard beating against the windows. She climbed up the stairs and stood behind him, putting her arms around his neck.

"Hey." she greeted.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, not having noticed her. "Hey, yeah." He quickly hit the save button and closed his laptop. "Can't read it yet -- works in progress."

"Ah, got it." she replied. "I'm glad you're inspired. You know, I finished _Everybody Drops the Dime_. There was a lot of good stuff in there. I loved it."

"Yeah?" he asked, standing up and putting his arms around her. "What was your favorite?"

"Definitely _Secret Window_." she told him. "It was fascinating!"

"Yes… yes, that's a good one…" he said a little hesitantly. "…Er… anyway, any more calls from dear old mum?"

"Not today -- guess I got lucky--" Just as she said it, though, her cell phone rang. She sighed heavily and pulled her phone out. "Damn it…"

"Good luck." he bid, giving her a short kiss.

"Thanks." she replied, putting the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Skye, it's your mother."

'Big surprise.' Skye thought.

"I've decided something." her mother continued. "Your sister and I are going to come and visit you. We'd like to see your living conditions and meet this Morton Rainey."

Skye rolled her eyes. "Mother, please… I'm a grown woman -- you'll be embarrassing me."

Her mother scoffed. "All you care about is yourself, Skye! Well, we care about you and are coming up there. I have the address and all, so expect us sometime soon."

CLICK.

"What!" Skye exclaimed. "No! Wait! Damn it!" She shoved the phone back in her pocket.

"Bad news?" Mort asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"Yes -- very." Skye told him glumly. "My mother and sister are coming up here to visit… Oh, gosh, I'm sorry about this --she's so _stupid_!"

"Oh, it's alright, it's not your fault." he replied. "Don't worry about it. She'll come up and visit and then she'll leave. Simple as that."

"I doubt it…" she sighed. "Well, then, we'll just… wait, I guess. But remember: when she comes, don't show _any_ affection towards me at all."

"Well, that'll be difficult, but I think I can refrain for a little while. I guess I've just got to stock up, then, huh?" he asked with a smile, kissing her neck; she laughed and held him closer.

After a little while, they went downstairs and idly flipped through channels until they settled on watching _Rear Window_ (how lucky to find a great Hitchcock on TV!). Toward the finale of the movie, they'd lied down to watch the rest of it. By the ending, however, they both fell asleep.

The morning came and Mort woke up tiredly. He had an arm around Skye, who was still asleep. He once again started thinking about his and Skye's relationship. And again, he couldn't deny wanting to be _closer_ to her. He watched her sleeping peacefully and felt kind of bad for thinking so much about it. Just then, she turned over and snuggled up to him more, putting her arms around him. He looked down at her and smiled.

A little while later, Skye stirred and woke up, looking up at Mort.

"Oh… hi… fell asleep on the couch again…" she said, letting go of him and yawning.

"Yeah… good movie last night, though." he replied.

"Oh, definitely." she agreed. "I love that one." A bit of awkward silence passed. "Well, I suppose we should start breakfast, then…"

A few days went by. Skye was growing nervous about her mother's visit. She was going to find _something_ wrong and forbid Skye to stay there any longer. Unfortunately, Skye could do nothing but wait. She soaked up Mort's affection like a sponge, though, because she feared the entire relationship might end. But… she _was _22, after all… Maybe things would turn out alright… Besides, she really loved Mort… Maybe destiny would intervene and save their relationship! …Silly to hope, but it was holding Skye up.

One night, however, Skye began to grow incredibly anxious. She and Mort were sitting on the couch, talking about her mother's arrival. Skye was dressed quite casually on this day: just a black spaghetti strap shirt and normal jeans.

"…I just wish I could do something…" Skye said, Mort's arms around her.

"You can, Skye." he stated. "Just tell her off. She can't control your life forever."

Skye sighed. "I just can't do that… I… well… I still need her guidance every once in a while… like… applying for college stuff and… and I can't get loans on my own… I really do need her money…"

"You don't -- I told you I'd help you."

"No, I… I can't let you do that… Love is one thing, money is another…" she told him. "I just… don't want to let you do that…"

"Well, then, when your mother comes, we'll just tough through it." he stated. "It'll be over before you know it." She nodded.

Rain started falling outside and thunder sounded. The sweet, crisp smell of rain filled the house and refreshed the air. They looked at each other for a few moments and then lied down.

"Why do you have to be so beautiful?" he asked, gazing into her eyes. She smiled. "…I love you, Skye."

"I love you, too, Mort…" she replied, putting her arms around him. He kissed her.

Oh, my. It was that situation again… Decisions, decisions… Self control seemed like it had been fairly obliterated… Shame! No way, Skye should just get up now and go… take a cold shower or something! Yeah… Of course… it wouldn't be so hard to just… well… run to the store in the morning and grab a morning-after pill… Yeah, that wouldn't be so hard! Oh, my… Why be ashamed? They were in love, after all… And there's no doubt it would make her feel a lot better with all this stupid emotional stress…

'Okay, I give in…' she thought. 'No shame. I'll go to the store tomorrow and all will be fine and dandy… I really do love him…'

He slid his hand up the back of her shirt and pulled it off. He kissed her neck.

"Um… shouldn't we do this upstairs…?" Skye suggested.

He looked at her. "Are you sure about this?" She nodded. "Well, alright, then. Yeah, upstairs. Not your room because we'd be surrounded by Japanese cross-dressers -- and that's just weird." She laughed, and they made their way upstairs.

The next morning, Skye woke up in Mort's arms. She eased out of his grasp and sat up, looking around, a little disoriented. She stood up and put on Mort's bathrobe that was next to the bed. She looked outside and it was still raining. At this rate, it seemed the entire country would be flooded soon! Honestly! Just then, Mort woke up.

"Hey." he greeted tiredly.

"Hey."

"I like that look -- it suits you." he said, referring to the bathrobe. He held out his hand to her and she took it, sitting down next to him. She smiled. "It doesn't match your hair, though." She chuckled and kissed him.

"You know, I'm liking _this_ look for you." she told him with a smile, placing a hand on his bare stomach.

He laughed. "Well, maybe I'll try it more often." He kissed her.

Right in the middle of a long kiss, Skye's stupid cell phone rang! She sighed in annoyance.

"I've got to answer it -- or she'll think I'm dead or something." she said, getting up. She went to her jeans (which were a good distance across the room) and retrieved her cell phone. "Hello?"

"Skye? This is your mother. Well, we're outside!"

"…What?" Skye asked, praying she had heard wrong.

"Yes, we're outside the cabin, in the car." her mother told her. "Why don't you come out and let us in?"

"Oh… right… well, give me a few -- I just got up." Skye said, biting her lip in worry.

"You just got up?" her mother asked. "You're so lazy sometimes. What about Mr. Rainey? Where is he?"

"…In his room… why?"

"Well, he can let us in, then." her mother suggested.

"Er… I don't want to disturb him right now -- just give me a few." Skye stated and hung up. "…Shit!"

"What?" Mort asked warily.

"My mother!" Skye cried. "She's here! She's outside!"

"Shit!" Mort exclaimed, jumping up. "Hurry up, throw something on!"

She nodded and they both rushed to dress. There were knocks at the door -- apparently, her mother got tired of waiting… After a few moments of searching, however, Skye realized…

"More shit…" Skye told him. "My shirt's downstairs…"

"…Shit…" Mort agreed. "Erm… just… grab something out of my closet. If one of us goes downstairs to get it, they'll see us."

"Right." she said and rushed to Mort's closet to find something suitable. She grabbed a light red shirt and threw it on. "Okay, I'm going in -- if I don't come out in an hour, send a search party." she joked.

"Understood." he stated, pulling a pair of pants on.

Skye flattened her hair and made sure her makeup wasn't hideously smeared or anything, and headed downstairs into the unknown! She went to the door and opened it reluctantly.

"Hello, Mother." Skye greeted uneasily.

"Oh, Skye, it's so good to see you!" her mother exclaimed, hugging her. "…What an ugly shirt…"

"Oh… er… just something I had lying around…" Skye said, her stomach knotting. Just then, her sister walked up.

"Hey, Skye." her sister greeted.

"Hey, Jill, how are you doing? It's been a while, huh?"

"Yeah… Nice place…" Jill stated sarcastically. Skye bit the inside of her cheek to keep from saying anything.

"Well, aren't you going to invite us in?" her mother asked.

"Of course… Come on in…" Skye said reluctantly, and let her relatives enter.

* * *

Geez, I'm such a bad influence! Okay, here's my happy-leave-it-to-beaver-scolding: DON'T HAVE SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE! IT'S BAD AND JASON FROM FRIDAY THE 13TH WILL KILL YOU! Okay, I'm off the hook now! Wahaha! Anyway... things I need to address:

"You don't have to snap, it was just a question..." Did anyone catch what that quote's from? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! ("If you had to pick only one half of your son, which one would it be?" "What kind of question is that!""You don't have to snap, it was just a question...") HUZZAH!

Yes, Gackt claims he is 465 years old. He's a psycho, but I love him. The running joke about his "Love Letter" CD is that is incredibly CHEESY! And it is... but I love it anyway. By the way, if you get curious and decide to check out some Dir en Grey stuff... DO NOT download the "Obscure" video... That thing is pure evil. The song isn't bad, just the video. Seriously frightening. I've seen a lot of stuff in my time, including all the Silent Hill games (even that sick monster orgy in Silent Hill 2!), but this is beyond tolerance. It's sick.

Um... let's see... I think that's about it... Yeah... DON'T HAVE SEX BEFORE MARRIAGE! I'm a bad influence and should be shot. Hahaha

**PLEASE REVIEW! I DESPERATELY NEED IT! gets on hands and knees to beg PLEASE! Do it for Mort! He loves you! And so do I! PLEASE! I'm so pathetic...**

**Loveyou guys! **


	6. Scars

Yay for a... quicker update than before! Thank you to snufflesgal, winoforever63, and CelestialRainn for reviewing! You guys are too kind! And I love all of your names, too Anyway, thanks for stickin' with me! You guys rock!

ENJOY!

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CHAPTER 6: SCARS

"You can have a seat over here…" Skye said, gesturing to the couch and armchair. She spotted her shirt on the floor and quickly sat down on the couch, trying to push the shirt under it with her feet. Just then, Mort came downstairs. "Oh, Mr. Rainey, I'd like you to meet my mother, Delilah, and my sister, Jill."

"Good morning." Mort greeted. "It's nice to meet you both." Skye's mother and sister exchanged glances, clearly not buying into his act. "Erm, would you like something to drink or eat or anything?"

"No, we'll let Skye make us something later." her mother stated. How polite.

"Alright." Mort agreed politely. He sat down next to Skye, but kept a distance. "Well, your daughter certainly is a great editor. She's helped me quite a lot."

"Is that so?" her mother asked.

"Yes." he replied. "Actually, I've gotten the opportunity to read some of her writing -- she's really quite talented."

"Is she?" her mother asked indifferently.

"She is. I think she could be a bestseller someday." he said.

"What's that?" Jill added, pointing to Skye's feet. Skye's stomach turned over.

"What's what?" Skye asked.

"That." Jill repeated. "That thing you're trying to push under the couch with your feet."

Skye looked down, pretending to be clueless. "Huh? Oh, I didn't even see this." She picked the shirt up and looked at it. "I must've dropped it while doing laundry."

"I thought you said you just woke up." Jill said. "Were you sleep-laundering?"

'I hope you die, you cheeky little--' Skye thought, but cut herself off.

"No, of course not, I was doing laundry last night." Skye replied. Jill sniggered and exchanged glances with her mother. "What's funny?"

"Oh, nothing." Jill told her, smiling sweetly.

"Erm… so, isn't it nice up here?" Skye asked, bottling her anger. "A nice lake and all. It's very quiet and peaceful. What a place to write!"

"Mm hm." her mother agreed, still indifferent. "You know, I am getting a little hungry."

"Oh, well, erm… I can cook something." Skye said. "Mr. Rainey grows corn out in the back. It's just delicious! I'll never know what he put in that soil to make it taste so good!"

"That sounds acceptable." her mother told her, continuing her indifference.

"Good!" Skye exclaimed, faking a cheerful tone. "I'll get started on that! So… why don't you two and Mr. Rainey get to know each other, hm?" Skye got up and went over to the kitchen.

"Mr. Rainey, are you involved with anyone?" Skye's mother asked abruptly.

"No, ma'am, and I'm flattered, but I don't think I'm your type." Mort replied with a smile.

'Oh, _shit_, Mort -- my mother has no sense of humor!' Skye thought, shucking corn violently. 'Jokes are beyond her comprehension!'

"That is _not_ what I meant." her mother stated staunchly, clearly offended.

"I was… just joking…" Mort told her uncomfortably.

"Yes, well, it wasn't funny." Skye's mother said strictly. "Now, answer my question."

"Er, no, I'm not involved with anyone right now." he replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I was simply curious, that's all." her mother brushed off. "Skye," she called, "what about you? Are you seeing anyone yet?"

"No, Mother, I'm not." Skye told her exasperatedly. "I never am -- you know that."

"So, you have no interest in my daughter, Mr. Rainey?" her mother asked.

"E-excuse me?" he asked, taken off guard.

"Let's stop beating around the bush." Jill piped in. "My mom wants to know if you're sleeping with my sister."

"JILL!" Skye screamed from the kitchen.

"I'm telling it like it is!" Jill said defensively.

"You're being _rude_!" Skye scolded, stepping over so she could see her sister. "Mr. Rainey is an acclaimed author -- don't accuse him of things like that!"

"Well, then, maybe I'm not accusing _him_, I'm accusing _you_." Jill stated.

"Oh, stop it." Skye snapped. "You know full well I've never had a date in my life. Rubbing it in isn't going to do anything."

"We're just making sure, Skye." Jill said, faking a concerned tone. "We don't want you to let yourself go."

"Honestly, what kind of a girl do you think I am?" Skye asked, returning to the corn. Mort sat in the middle uncomfortably.

"Well, where is your room, Skye?" her mother asked. "I want to see your living conditions."

"Oh, I'll show it to you." Mort injected, standing up. He went over to the door to Skye's room and opened it. Skye's mother and Jill followed; they looked in.

"Oh, Skye, who are these ugly women on your walls?" her mother asked.

Skye took a deep breath, about to explode from anger. "They are Jrockers, Mother." she stated slowly. "You remember Jrockers, don't you?"

"Oh, that Japanese stuff?" her mother asked with distaste. "Yeah… I thought you would've outgrown that…"

"You don't outgrow X Japan." Skye said angrily.

"You should take these down, Skye, people will think you're one of _those_ girls." her mother told her disapprovingly.

"What is a 'one of _those_ girls?'" Skye asked bitterly.

"You know, a girl who likes other girls." her mother said.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Mother, those 'girls' are men! Besides, there's nothing wrong with being a lesbian, anyway."

"What?" her mother asked sharply.

"Let's just drop this." Skye stated irritably.

Her mother scowled, looking at the posters distastefully. "Men? Well, I want you to take these down as soon as possible."

_Sure, just as soon as we stop fucking Mr. Rainey._

Skye's fist slammed into the counter angrily. 'YOU AGAIN! I thought I got rid of you!'

_You can't get rid of me, Skye._

"Is everything alright, Skye?" her mother asked, hearing the fist slamming.

"Oh, yeah, I just… dropped something, that's all." Skye dismissed. Mort showed Skye's mother and Jill around the rest of the house… which didn't take that long since the house was so small. Skye took a deep breath and decided to sing something very quietly to take her mind off things. "Iuchibiru kara, kobore ochiru, sabitatsu no kakera, shita ni nokoru--"

_Sono nigami ga, kizu wo kojiakeru!_

'Be quiet!' Skye thought angrily. 'It took me _forever _to learn the lyrics to "Scars," I don't need you messing them up!'

_I'm helping. Toshi would thank me._

'You bitch, get out of my head!'

_I'm here for your own good. And what a night last night, huh? I decided to remain silent during that time since you seemed to be having so much fun. But if the people in town didn't hear you, I'll be surprised._

'Shut up!'

_How about you shut up and let me talk a little, huh? Or maybe you can let me take over. I can do that, Skye. I can kill Mother. You can't, but I can._

'Don't even talk like that! Do you know how much trouble I'd be in?'

_Hahaha, poor naïve Skye! You don't know anything, do you? While you're asleep, I can hear things, you know._

'And you think I care?'

_Yeah, I think you do. Mort has a problem._

'…Problem?'

_Yep. The other night, I was listening pretty hard and heard him talking. Talking to himself, Skye._

'Please, he was probably writing -- just talking out loud. Getting his thoughts out and organizing them.'

_No, he wasn't. Looks like he's got the same problem as you. Schizophrenia._

'Look, I wouldn't _be_ schizophrenic if it weren't for _you_, you know! Damn it, just get out of my head!'

_I can't do that. Not on my own… Anyway, remember that time he **almost **scored with you? _Skye's lip curled in annoyance. _He got that southern accent? Yeah, that's the other one._

'And you think _I'm_ crazy? You're imagining things.'

_Yes, you are crazy, and no, I'm not imagining things. They were arguing about getting emotionally attached to you. The other one, apparently called Shooter, was trying to convince Mort not to love you._

'Well, Mort _does_ love me, so--'

_Will you shut up and listen to me! **Mort** loves you, but Shooter doesn't. I haven't been able to make out what he wants yet, but it's not good._ Skye stayed silent and thought about this for a moment. _Shooter kept talking about 'the ending.' He said it had to be just perfect._

'Well, he must've been talking about the story Mort is writing, obviously.'

_No, he wasn't. Is there a character named Skye in his story? I don't think so._ Skye picked up a large knife and started to cut the ends off the corn._ Jill has become quite an ass, hasn't she? You know how easily we could kill her with this knife? Come on, it wouldn't be hard!_

'No! I'm not killing anyone! Shut up right now!'

_Hey, what about that little trip you needed to make into town?_

Skye froze. "Oh, shit." she whispered.

"What was that, Skye?" Jill asked from the living room -- she, her mother, and Mort were all back there, sitting in awkward silence.

"Oh, er, nothing -- I just remembered… I… have to go into town and get something… Mo-er-Mr. Rainey, would you finish with the food here?"

"Of course, Miss Rivers." Mort replied, getting up and going into the kitchen.

"Mother, Jill, I'll be back in just a little while -- I'm sorry about this." Skye said.

"What is it that you need to get?" her mother asked.

"…Something for that time of the month." Skye lied.

_HA! If they only knew…_

'Shut it!'

"Oh…" her mother said. "Well, you should've been prepared for that."

"Mother, _please_." Skye stated, gesturing to Mort, and turning red at the thought of being scolded about that time of the month in front of her boyfriend. Her mother sighed in annoyance. "Anyway, I'll be back shortly." She grabbed the keys off the hook and her purse off the table, and hurried to the car. She got in the Jeep and sped off down the road.

"Oh, shit. Oh, shit. Oh, shit." Skye whimpered.

_Hey, it's still morning -- it should be okay._

'Not that! Didn't you hear? I almost called him Mort! My mother would kill me if I called my boss by his first name! She'll know! That little bitch Jill already knows anyway!'

_She might not know…_

'Shut up -- the minute _you_ start being comforting is the minute I know something's wrong.'

_Hahaha, oh, Skye, you know me well. Anyway, why is it that Mort hasn't told you he has a problem?_

'Oh, great icebreaker, you loser: "How are you today? You look great. By the way, I'm schizophrenic. Want a sandwich?" Honestly!'

_Yeah, same reason **you** haven't told **him** either. He probably won't put out if he knew about your terrible problem, isn't that right?_

'Oh, shut up! You know perfectly well that I _love_ him and am seeing him for more than just sex. You _know_ that.'

_But wasn't it great? I mean, seriously? Wasn't it?_

'It's none of your business.'

_Please! I live in your head -- it's my business!_

'It is not. Mort loves _me_, not _you_. You're just jealous because nobody loves you! They all hate you because you're vile!'

_That was harsh, Skye. Ouch. How could you say something like that?_

'Shut up. I don't want to talk to you.'

She drove into town, grabbed what she needed and went back out to the car. She threw the pill in her mouth and washed it down with some bottled water she bought. She sighed in a little bit of relief and drove back to the cabin. She shoved the pill bottle into her purse and grabbed up the grocery bag. While at the store, she actually did buy stuff for that time of the month just in case her mother or Jill got nosey and decided to snoop around in the bag or something. She entered the cabin reluctantly…

Things were fine all the way through lunch, but only got worse afterwards… They had all been talking about something that wouldn't make anyone yell. Skye had cleverly changed the subject to a series of books that, as far as Skye knew, caused no anger for anyone.

"But really," Skye said, "_The Lord of the Rings_ was clearly an allegory. Tolkien denied it simply because he didn't want people analyzing his work wrong. I mean, isn't it obvious that the books are just dripping with symbolism? Archetypes were everywhere in those books." Mort nodded interestedly.

"Erm… I thought they were kind of boring." Jill stated. "I couldn't get through the first one."

Skye gasped. "Jill! Don't be a heathen! You have no soul until you read those books -- and that's the truth."

"Oh, please." Jill scoffed. "Besides, like _anyone_ knows what half the stuff you were saying means."

"…Like what?" Skye asked. "Mother, you've read them, right? Wasn't it an allegory with lots of archetypes and symbolism?"

"I don't know what those words mean." her mother said bitterly.

"Yeah, no one does -- Skye just likes to make herself look smarter than she is." Jill stated.

"…I know what they mean." Mort added. They all looked at him -- he'd been silent for so long, they'd almost forgotten he was there.

"Hmph." Skye's mother scoffed. Skye's gaze lingered for a moment on Mort, remembering what she'd thought about earlier. Shooter… She glanced back down at her plate. "Skye, do you have a pen? I just remembered something."

"Er, yeah. In my purse, go ahead and grab it." Skye replied offhandedly. Her mother got up and started toward her purse.

_SKYE! THE BOTTLE, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!_

Skye's eyes widened. "Mother, wait -- I forgot, the pen isn't in there!" she rushed, but her mother had already gotten to it…

"…What -- is -- this…?" her mother asked, pulling the bottle out of Skye's purse and examining it.

"What? O-oh, my friend -- she asked me to pick them up for her--"

"You liar!" her mother exclaimed. "I knew it! We knew what was going on here, didn't we, Jill?"

"What is it, Mom?" Jill asked. Her mother returned to the table and handed the bottle to Jill, who looked at it.

"Hahaha! We knew it, Skye!" Jill laughed. "Great job hiding it!"

Mort didn't really know what was going on until he got a closer look at the bottle; his heart sunk. Great…

"Shit…" Skye muttered, rubbing her forehead stressfully. Her mother started to advance closer to her, but she stood up and retreated behind Mort fearfully.

"We knew we shouldn't have trusted you here!" her mother scolded. "And you watch your language!"

"Mrs. Rivers--"

"Orwell -- divorced, remember?" Skye's mother said bitterly.

"Mrs. Orwell," Mort continued tensely, holding back anger, "may I remind you that your daughter is twenty two years old and well of age to decide things for herself."

"We didn't think she'd succumb to the first man, and I do mean the first, that's come along!" her mother exclaimed shrilly. Jill laughed.

Skye was turning red -- not only from a bit of embarrassment, but more prominently, anger. "Mother, I happen to have fallen in love with Mort -- do you have a problem with that?"

"Yes, I have many problems with that." her mother replied bitterly. "He's almost twice your age for one thing, and for another, he's not very high classed."

"And how do you know!" Skye yelled. "How could you possibly know!"

"That's it, Skye, you're coming home tomorrow." her mother stated firmly. "And that's final." Mort sighed. Skye wouldn't stand up to her mother… he was pretty sure she wouldn't. "And you," she said to Mort, "I should sue you for raping my daughter!"

"STOP IT!" Skye screamed. All went silent and everyone's eyes flew to Skye. "I AM NOT LEAVING -- I'M STAYING RIGHT HERE! YOU'VE NEVER LET ME DO _ANYTHING_ AND THIS IS _MY_ LIFE! I'M TAKING CONTROL OF _MY_ LIFE! AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU TELL YOURSELF, MOTHER, IT CERTAINLY WAS _NOT_ RAPE -- THERE WAS DEFINITE MUTUAL CONSENT!" Silence… Skye's mother looked horrified, Jill looked a little shocked, and Mort looked proud of her for standing up for herself. "And, you know, you can just go ahead and not give me any money for college -- that's fine. But I know you and I know that you've already told all your friends what a good deed you're doing by helping your little reject child get through school. I really doubt you're not going to help."

Skye's mother curled her lip in annoyance. She grabbed Jill by the arm and they stormed out of the house. Through the open window, Skye could hear her mother distastefully grumbling the words "definite mutual consent" as she was getting in the car.

Skye slumped down into her chair and rested her head in her hands. She sighed and looked up at Mort. He was smiling. Just from the look in his eyes she could tell what he wanted to say. She laughed, still shaking from yelling so much. They stood up and hugged tightly. Was Skye finally free…? Or… was this the beginning of the end…? Could this stand make absolutely everything go to hell? Skye's emotions were shaken and apparently Mort wasn't any more sane than she was… Only time would tell whether things would get better or worse…

* * *

Haha, definite mutual consent... I thought that was funny... Erm, anyway! Yeesh, honestly! You ever just want your family to go away and leave you alone? Story o' me life!I strongly dislike them. Anyway...let's see... things I need to address:

The thing with "who are these ugly women on your walls" is definitely something all us Jrock fans go through. It's quite annoying. Unless you show pictures of Gackt to football players and they say "Wow, that girl is HOT!" and then you tell them that he is a man and they run off denying ever saying anything. Oh, yes, I have done that and it is fun.  
"Scars" is one of mah favorite X Japan songs! I couldn't find the translation anywhere though... Anyway, it's really good and... REALLY hard to memorize, as Skye said.  
I named the sister Jill simply because I could not really think of another name. I felt bad giving her the name of my beloved Jill from Resident Evil (after whom I name myself, hehe), but it was all my brain could conjure.  
"How are you today? You look great. By the way, I'm schizophrenic. Want a sandwich?" The first two lines are from... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! In the hair toffee scene HEY! A trailer for the movie just came on TV! Yay! huggles Wonka  
Erm... yes, Tolkien denied that LOTR was an allegory. I personally... think there was too much symbolism and archetypesfor it not to be, but... whatever the godly Tolkien says! --' I've gotten yelled at by many people over this, so I must ask, please do not yell at me. Though, anyone says LOTR is boring and I'll eat your liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti. hehe   
SHE FINALLY TOLD OFF HER MOTHER! Finally! I wish I was as brave as Skye!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! The next chapter is the last one! Download Jrock while you're waiting. hehe PLEASE REVIEW!


	7. Silent Jealousy

This is the last chapter! Thanks to EVERYONE who reviewed! I love you all! Seriously! I love you! Okay, enjoy the chapter!

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CHAPTER 7: SILENT JEALOUSY

The next few days were just fine. Happy, in fact. Skye's cell phone hadn't rang once and Mort was very inspired to write. She thought things were getting much better in her life, and maybe this whole thing with her family would blow over. Maybe they'd realize that she _was_, in fact, twenty two, and could handle her own life just fine. By this time, Skye realized that she'd probably be better off going on some kind of birth control since… there was no guarantee that they wouldn't _ya know_ again…

Though, after another week, things started looking down again. Skye, as glad as she was, hadn't heard anything from her family… but she didn't know if that was bad or good… She started to worry. Mort lost his temper a lot more than he used to and was in a bad mood a lot.

One day, Mort slumped down on the couch, frustrated. He'd just spent the entire morning writing. Skye was in the kitchen, finishing up with some dishes from lunch. She saw that he'd come down and went to sit beside him.

"Hey." she greeted. "Get much writing done?"

"No, and I don't want to talk about it." he snapped.

"Oh… alright…" she said, a little taken off guard, and put her arms around him.

"Can I just sit here for a minute without you all over me?" he asked bitterly.

She recoiled. "Sure, sorry…" She looked at him confusedly. Yeesh, such a short fuse today… He sighed in annoyance and pulled out a cigarette and a lighter. She furrowed her brow as he lit it. "Erm… could you not smoke? You know I hate it…"

"Yeah, well, maybe the world doesn't have to revolve around you." he snapped. "I just want to smoke a fucking cigarette, is that too much to ask!" She looked at him, scathed, for a moment, and got up and stormed to her room. She turned on her CD player and blasted some Dir en Grey. Mort took the cigarette from his mouth and slammed it onto the ashtray. He got up and opened Skye's door. "And will you turn that shit down! It's driving me crazy!"

Skye sighed and nodded. She got up and turned the music down. He slammed her door shut and she stared after him. She put her headphones into her CD player and listened to some good "Obscure."

"Mekurume-iro… yoru ga hajimari hito ga hishimeku, zakuro-iro… toge wo sashite kanata wa kieru!" Kyo sang with angst.

After getting her Diru fill, she turned off her CD player and went to sleep. Mort had done the same (just without the Diru). He'd gone upstairs to sleep and stayed that way for several hours. After he woke up, he realized how mean he'd been and guiltily went into Skye's room.

"Skye?" he asked carefully, going to the side of her bed. She opened her eyes and gazed at Mort. Upon seeing him, she sat up hopefully. "Skye, I'm really sorry… I'm such a bastard sometimes…"

"Oh, it's alright… we all have our days…" she said, still a bit uneasy.

He lied down on his back next to her. She turned on her side and moved closer to him. She ran her fingers through his hair and stared at him, debating on whether to confess about her personality problem… She traced the features of his face with her fingers and decided.

"Mort…" she began, "can I tell you something? You have to promise me you won't freak out, though…"

"Sure…" he agreed.

"Erm… I…"

_What are you doing?_

"I have… well… I have… damn it, I'm just going to spit it out." she stated. "I have schizophrenia…" He just looked at her. "I didn't want to tell you because it wasn't bad up to now, but it's bad now and it keeps talking to me and I'm really scared, Mort, because I don't know what to do…" she had finally broken down and started crying into his chest. "Please help me, Mort! Please!"

_HE CAN'T HELP YOU, SKYE! NO ONE CAN!_

"…Skye, I… I… I'm sorry…" Mort said, rubbing her back consolingly. "I've… read about that condition and--"

_Yeah, **read** about it, that's how you know, lying bastard!_

"I think what you need to do is… just try and drive it out of your head yourself…" he told her. "I'm here for you whenever you need me…"

_Yeah, when you're not yelling at us like Kyo!_

Skye nodded, hugging Mort. Now with her family out of the picture… he really was the only one she had to cling onto… and she was starting to get pretty clingy…

"No matter what happens, I'm here for you." he told her gently.

_Fuck that! You've been such a bastard lately! How are we supposed to believe you when you're being such an ass!_

"Mort, make it stop!" she pleaded helplessly, still crying. "Please, Mort, help me!"

_When did you get to be such a wimp, Skye! What the hell are you doing?_

"Skye, I… I don't know what to do…" he replied uneasily.

"…Kiss me." she stated. "She doesn't talk when you kiss me." He held her tighter and kissed her. She rested her head on his chest and sighed.

_Nice, Skye. Nice. Well, you might as well get some sex out of this, huh? You know that's why **I'm **so fond of Mr. Rainey here. He's quite a lot of man, isn't he? But now that you've revealed that you're completely insane, he's not going to want to stay with you, now, is he? Even if he's going to lie about not being just as insane as you are._

"I don't understand…" she said. "I don't know why she keeps talking to me… I don't know why she's doing this… Oh, Mort, I'm not crazy, please don't leave me…"

"Leave you?" he asked. "I wouldn't do that. So you have a bit of a problem. It's not your fault."

"It isn't! It isn't my fault! There's nothing I can do!" she panicked. "She'll never leave me alone! And neither will my mother! She'll just call back and make hell for me! Why can't I just rest, Mort! Why does there always have to be something causing me pain! It's not fair!"

_Quit whining, you worthless piece of shit! Honestly, you're so weak! _

"Please, Mort, make her be quiet!" she pleaded. He looked concerned, but kissed her. "Don't stop…"

"Oh, I wasn't intending to." he told her with a smile.

"But… let's go upstairs, huh?" she suggested. "It's weird having Yoshiki stare at us."

"I told you it'd be weird to do anything in here." he said, and they went upstairs.

The next morning, Skye woke up before Mort did and slipped into his robe again. She went downstairs to start some kind of breakfast. She put on a pot of coffee and started on some pancakes.

_Morning, Skye._ Skye did nothing to react. Maybe if she ignored it, it would go away. _I said, morning, Skye. Aren't you going to speak to me?_

"Arittake no ai de kimi no subete wo, tsutsumikonde," Skye sang quietly, "ageyou--"

_Don't you try and cover me up with cheesy Gackt songs!_

"Mou nidoto kanashimi ga otozurenai youni, kimi wo mamoritai--"

_It takes more than Gackt cheese to drown me out! _

'Shut up, Gackt could kill you with his mind and you know it.'

_What would he do? Sick the hidden meat on me? Because he knows it's there. Maybe he would dazzle me to death with his amazing ability to read and prepare curry at the same time -- butt naked. _

'Yeah, you know, he might.'

_Shut up, don't use Gackt as a distraction. Please, if I can handle "Love Letter," I can handle anything._

'What are you rambling about! Just say what you want to say and leave me alone -- and I like "Love Letter."'

_I wanted to say, aside from your liking "Love Letter" blasphemy, that Mort must not care that much about you._

'What! Are you crazy!'

_He hasn't confided in you about his problem yet, you know._

'Maybe he's trying to stay strong for me, huh? What if that's it?'

_Where do you get these crazy "love conquers all" ideas? Honestly?_

'From "Love Letter."'

_THAT'S IT! I'm getting that CD banned… Skye… why don't you just let me take over? I've noticed how stressed out you are lately. If you just let me go ahead and take over, you'll realize that it's a lot easier. I can live your life so much better, and you won't have to make any hard decisions or anything. I'll even stay with Mort as long as he stays with us. _

'No! It's my life, okay! I came first, not you!'

_You can't handle life, Skye! You go crying to Mort to please help you like a wimp! I'm starting to think like Shooter. He doesn't like you, maybe I don't like Mort so much. Sex can only last so long and I'm starting to get a little annoyed with your precious Mr. Rainey._

'Well, it's not your life, so let me handle it!'

_When have you ever been able to handle anything! Back when we lived at home, you screwed up a lot, you know!_ Skye started breathing quickly, panicking._ Half the crap that happened to us wouldn't have happened if you weren't such a weakling! _She shook her head, covering her ears. _You're insane, just face it!_

'There's nothing wrong with me…'

_And if you keep going on like this, you'll snap and kill yourself or something! _

'Nothing wrong with me…'

_Something's got to give, Skye. Something's got to give! YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT!_

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She didn't want to hear it. She started screaming to down out the other voice. Mort stumbled downstairs to see what was wrong. He grabbed onto her upper arms and tried to hold her still.

"Skye, what's wrong!" he exclaimed. She stopped, still breathing heavily.

"She… she wouldn't be quiet…" Skye said timidly. "She kept saying… terrible things… and she wouldn't stop…" He sighed worriedly and released her. He sat down and put his head in his hands. "Oh… oh, Mort, I'm sorry… this must be a lot of stress on you… I'm sorry…"

"…Good." he stated. She looked at him. "Not to mention the fact that I still haven't finished my fucking book because I've been so busy keeping you sane or whatever." She looked devastated. Why was he saying these things? "My mind is clouded and if it's clouded, then how can I write my ending! It's the most important part of the story!"

"Mort, I'm sorry…" she told him, nervously pulling the robe closed more.

"_The_ most important part! I can't have anything get in the way of that! With things going how they are right now, chances are, I won't get my ending!" he yelled. "And take that off, damn it, you remind me of that bitch Amy wearing that thing around!"

She furrowed her brow, but decided to be brave for once. She was going to dig just a little if she could. Maybe he'd confess about his problem…

"'That bitch' Amy?" she asked. "I thought… being your wife and all… I thought you loved her."

"I did, but she cheated on me and got what she deserved." he told her. "The perfect ending."

"The perfect ending? She died…"

"Yeah." he replied obviously. He looked up at her, realizing he'd let a few too many things slip. "Don't even _think_ about telling anyone what you just heard. People will take it the wrong way. Just because I wanted her to die, doesn't mean I killed her." She just looked at him. "YOU UNDERSTAND ME -- IT DOESN'T MEAN A DAMN THING! AND I TOLD YOU TO TAKE THAT OFF!" He picked up a mug that was sitting on the table and hurled it in her general direction. She dodged the flying glass and just looked at him for a moment.

"What is _wrong_ with you?" she asked. "Just tell me. You think I'm going to judge you or something? What does my opinion matter, anyway? Just tell me what's wrong with you because I know you're not this much of an ass!"

"There's nothing wrong with me -- you're just ruining everything." he told her coldly.

"Fine, whatever, I'm going into town." she stated and marched off to her room. She threw some clothes on and headed for the door. Mort hadn't moved from where he was.

"What are you going to do in town?" he asked warily.

"I'm going to buy something." she replied, grabbing the keys off the hook.

"What are you going to buy?" he asked.

"Like it's your business."

"Maybe it is my b--"

"Fuck off, Mort, seriously." she interrupted angrily and stormed out.

When she got back, she found that Mort was asleep on the couch. She didn't want to talk to him, so she was careful not to wake him. He woke up a few hours later and entered Skye's room cautiously. She was lying on her bed with her headphones on, listening to "Saku" by Dir en Grey.

"Hey, Skye…" he said, trying to get her attention, but the music was too loud. "SKYE!" She looked up at him and pulled her headphones off.

"What?" she asked.

"…Your hair… it's black… Why?"

"Maybe I got tired of blue." she replied angrily. "Maybe I just don't like it anymore." She hit stop on her CD player and got up. She grabbed a CD off her shelf and looked at it. "Like I just don't like 'Love Letter.'" She threw "Love Letter" across the room violently.

"Skye, I'm sorry about--"

"If you were sorry, it wouldn't keep happening." she interrupted. "I know what's wrong with you, Mort. You've got the same problem as me, don't you?" He froze. "I thought you might tell me since I told you. I thought you loved me enough to confide in me but I guess I was wrong and she was right."

"No, Skye, please," he pleaded, "I wanted to help you. But I couldn't do that if I was trying to get help from you, too. I didn't want you to worry more, anyway… I don't… I don't know how you know, but… now that it's all out… can I… tell you about it?" She considered this for a moment and finally nodded. "When I yell at you… it isn't me… it's… Todd Downey…" Todd Downey… that sounded familiar… _Sowing Season_. It was from that other version of _Secret Window_! The main character… "Then there's another one… John Shooter…" he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "And… they're not going to be happy with me telling you this…"

She looked at him and saw how distressed he looked and realized it was sincere. This wasn't some crappy excuse to get out of getting yelled at… this was genuine. He really was worried… and he looked pitiful. She slowly walked over to him and hugged him.

"What a fine pair of loons we make, huh?" she told him, hugging him. She sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"…I don't know…"

"Shooter's bothering you a lot lately, hasn't he?" she asked. He nodded. "He doesn't like me, right?" He shook his head. "The one in my head doesn't like you anymore either… Maybe… if we spent a little time apart… we could figure something out… What do you think?" He nodded. "Not talking too much today, are you?" She released him and placed her hands on the sides of his head. "No matter what happens to us, Mort… I love you."

He gazed into her eyes, wishing things could've been different. "…I love you, too, Skye… And ahead of time… I apologize for anything I do… just remember, it isn't me…"

"…Same here." she replied and kissed him.

The next day, Skye had gathered some of her things, deciding to spend a week in the motel not too far from the lake. She bid Mort a temporary farewell and called a cab to give her a ride.

A few days went by. Mort spent every moment of his days writing, and so did Skye. She ended up adding and changing things in her book _Comeuppance_. One day, though, in the middle of the week, Skye woke up feeling terrible. She knew this was going to be a bad day and didn't want to find out why. Later, however, this was answered by her cell phone ringing. Why she answered it was beyond her, but she did, nonetheless. She couldn't avoid her family forever.

"Hello?"

"Skye? This is your mother."

"Hi." Skye said rigidly.

"Skye, I've been thinking." her mother stated.

'Congratulations, bitch.' Skye thought angrily.

"I think you need to get a hold of reality. You'll change your mind about this writing thing and you'll thank me for putting my foot down."

"What?" Skye asked confusedly.

"I know you wanted to go to graduate's school to pursue this, but I've decided I'm not going to let you." her mother said. "I'm cutting off all funds to you. You're going to have to get a real job now."

"What?" Skye asked, devastated.

"You don't know, but I had to work for my money." her mother continued. "I'm sorry about this, but it's the way of the world."

"No! No, please!" Skye exclaimed, tears coming to her eyes.

_Kill her. Kill her, Skye. Do it!_

"You're acting like your brother now! Stop that!" her mother ordered. "You'll thank me. Now, come home at once! And don't even _mention_ that Mort Rainey to me. You'll thank me for that, too. It's just lust, I'm sure. So pack up and come home now or you'll be sorry. You can't live without my help, so just come home, and maybe I'll try to forgive you for all the horrid things you've done." Beep. Skye looked at her cell phone. It read CALL ENDED. She started crying. This wasn't fair! She needed that money! She needed school! It was the only thing that was keeping her sane, knowing that she would someday be able to rise above this problem and be something better than that… She smashed her phone to the ground and stomped on the remnants of it.

_Eh, who cares how much your mom paid for that phone -- piece of shit. But don't you wish that was her head? Just smash it into bits. It would be so easy. Go to her house, pick up a lamp, and smash away. _

'I've got to talk to Mort… he'll know what to do…' she thought.

_Oh, yes, talk to Mort. Because Mort just looooooves you._

'He does love me! He said so many times!'

_And he never lies. Never, never, never._

'No! He doesn't! Mort doesn't!'

_He's crazy, you can't trust him!_

'Shut up, I'm losing it, too, and you know it! I can't just sit here and take this! I _have_ to go to school! If I don't, then I won't be good enough to be a writer, and if I'm not a writer, then I'll have no reason to live, will I!'

_Yeah… a career is important…_

'It's the only thing that's kept me sane since I can remember. I _can't_ let this go.' She called a cab again, got her things together, and went back to the cabin. When she arrived, however, she noticed a car out in front. 'Mischa's… I suppose she came by to hang out and I'm not there…' She went to the door and opened it. She dropped her things by the door and headed for the staircase.

_Stop._ Skye stopped._ What's that sound…?_ Her stomach turned over and stumbled up the stairs and threw Mort's door open.

"Oh, shit…" she groaned.

_Great. What did I tell you? Mort who looooves you so hopped into bed with your friend just after you leave. That's love._

"Skye, please don't… erm… I just…" Mischa struggled to explain, but Skye didn't give her time to speak.

"Shut up." Skye ordered. "Get out right now." Skye stormed downstairs and Mischa threw her things on quickly and followed her.

"Skye, just--"

"I don't care what you have to say." Skye stated coldly. "Why does everyone always want something? Every friend I've ever had has only been my friend because they wanted something. Well, you wanted Mort, and you had him. Satisfied? I know I was for a while."

"Skye--"

"WHAT COULD YOU POSSIBLY SAY THAT COULD HELP ME!" Skye screamed. Mischa silenced. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" She shoved Mischa into the front door angrily. Mischa struggled to get up and left the house at top speed.

"Skye!" Mort exclaimed, hurrying downstairs, now dressed.

"I don't want to talk to you." she told him. "Now I know that sincerity doesn't exist and life only gets in the way of love." She grabbed her things and stormed to her room. She put a CD in her CD player and blasted "Obscure" by Dir en Grey as loud as her head would allow. Mort banged on her door, trying to reason with her, but she wouldn't listen.

An hour later, Skye realized she was totally parched. She'd cried so much, she needed refilling with some nice cold water. She opened her door and went into the kitchen. Mort was up at his desk, writing, and spotted her. He bolted downstairs.

"Before you run away, you have to promise you'll give me a chance to explain." he told her.

"Explain what?" she asked. "It doesn't matter anymore -- nothing matters anymore."

"Skye… please… How about… at about nine we sit outside and talk, alright?" he suggested. "I think talking will do us both some good." She paused and looked at him. "I've got some… great wine--"

"I don't drink, you know that."

"I thought nothing mattered anymore."

She sighed. "Fine. At nine, then." she agreed. She went in her room and drifted off to sleep.

Skye woke up at just about nine o' clock sharp. She didn't feel like she'd slept all. It was pitch dark outside except for the porch lights around the house. Mort had set up a table and chairs on the porch and had set out the wine, ready to be drank. Skye came outside, looking extremely distressed. She was wearing a black spaghetti strap shirt and very baggy black pants. She was singing "Obscure" under her breath and didn't seem to care about the world around her at all. She sat down on the porch with Mort.

"Why?" Skye asked, running her fingers along the rim of her wineglass. Mort didn't ask "why what?" because he knew exactly what she meant.

"…I needed someone, Skye, and… she just happened to stop by…" he told her. "It didn't mean anything…"

She shook her head and sighed. "Famous last words." She looked up at him. "My mother called. I'm not going to graduate's school and I'm not living with you anymore. My life has fallen apart completely."

"Skye, you can still live with me… I… I just needed someone and… and you'll be here." he reasoned. "I can send you to school, you know."

"Mort, please. It wouldn't work." she said. "Our other personalities hate each other. I wanted to make it work, Mort… I really did…"

_Surprise, Skye._

Skye froze. She started to get dizzy and things started to get blurry.

"Skye? Are you alright?" Mort asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." she replied, standing up. "Fine… if this really isn't going to work… then I want one more hug from you."

"Alright…" he agreed and stood up. He hugged her. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a syringe. She uncapped it and stuck it in the base of his spine, injecting him with something. He froze and shortly passed out. She dragged him down the stairs and onto the ground. The porch light made a spotlight on him as he lied there unconscious. She reached into her other pocket and pulled out a book. It was the book that had been under Mort's mattress. She held it in her hands tightly. She sat down on the steps and started to sing. It started raining as Mort regained consciousness and looked at her.

"You say anything just tell me all your sweet lies, say anything enji kirenai kokoro ni." She looked straight at him with cold eyes. "Close your eyes and I'll kill you in the rain…"

"Wh-what happened…?" he asked warily.

"You're paralyzed from the neck down." she replied coldly. He furrowed his brow in confusion. "It's nice to finally be able to say what I want to say. I guess you've heard of me, though."

"…You're not Skye, are you?" he asked.

"Sharp as a tack, Mort Rainey, I always thought so." she said sarcastically. "The name's Solange, it's great to hurt you in person. Skye took the backseat for a little while. So, we've sort of switched places. Now _she's _the annoying voice in the back of _my _head. While she's listening, I might as well make a few things clear. When she fell asleep a little while ago, you know how I said I was going to town to get more hair dye? Well, that's not where I was going. I got a hold of this handy stuff here." she held up the syringe. "I also got something else that will come in handy later. I went into your room, too, while you were out here setting all this up, and I snatched this." She held up the book and opened it. "Let's see… after we get past about ten pages of nothing but the word 'Shooter…' All work and no play makes Mort a dull boy, huh? Well, here we go, I quote, 'I finally did it… I finally took control of my life. I feel better than ever now. I'm free. Amy's gone. Ted's gone. I got rid of Tom Greenleaf and Ken Karsch, too. I pushed Tom and Ken off the cliff in a car. They were getting in the way, and I couldn't have that. But Amy and Ted, yes, I got rid of them. With good reason, I got rid of them. No one will ever know, either! I buried them. In the garden, under the corn. Soon, every bit of her will be gone, and her death will be a mystery. Even to me.'"

She looked at him, smirking. "I always knew you had it in you to do that. Skye never believed me, though."

"It wasn't me… it was Shooter." Mort reasoned.

"I think Skye and I have had enough of you for a long time." she stated and reached into another pants pocket. She pulled out a gun. "It's time for you bid us a very fond farewell. We'll miss you. In fact, I'll toast to you, Mort Rainey." she picked up the wine glass. "Here's to terrific sex." She drank down the wine in one gulp.

"Hey, Solar eclipse, or whatever your name is?"

"_Solange_." she growled angrily.

"Shooter can be _such_ a bastard, can't he?" Mort said. "I just want to tell you that you gulped down a fair helping of arsenic." She froze and dropped the glass. She started to get dizzy again and things got fuzzy. She looked up at Mort with different eyes. "You're Skye now, aren't you?" She nodded. "I'm sorry… Shooter did it, I didn't."

She looked at him with a softened expression, gun still in hand. She got up and went to him. She sat down on top of him and kissed him. "Life's too hard, Mort. You and I… we're too tortured to go on. I'm glad this happened." she coughed, the poison getting to her. "I love you and I know you love me, too. We can't let things get in the way of that. And this will be the perfect ending. Gackt was right with 'Love Letter.' Love does conquer all." she kissed him again. "Now we can be together forever."

"Skye… wait a minute, you don't want to do that…" Mort said.

"Yes, I do." she replied, coughing. "Tell me you love me, Mort."

"Skye…"

"Tell me."

"…I love you…" he admitted.

"We can never be free as long as we're alive." she coughed. "…I love you, Mort." She put the gun to his head and kissed him one last time. "…I love you…"

BANG! Mort laid lifeless under Skye. She tossed the gun away and lied down, resting her head on Mort's chest. With a look of absolute peace, the poison took its toll and Skye's life finally drained away.

* * *

Well, that's that. I hope you enjoyed my fic! I write it for you! Hope the ending didn't disappoint! I worked hard for a long time on this! Anyway, love you all! If you liked this, perhaps you can check out my other fanfics! My profile page tells you the order in which they go! Thanks for reading, guys! Ta!

Before I go, I should address a few things. The hidden meat and cooking curry naked while reading is... complicated... It's the big Gackt fans' inside joke. On the Utaban interviews, he explained how the good meat at the supermarket is hidden in the back. And he goes back and demands to buy the hidden meat, that he knows it's there. Plus, he loves to make curry and he cooks naked... while reading a book. Yes, he's a weirdo. Anyway... yeah!

Haha... actually, the "Here's to terrific sex" thing is a quote from Golden Girls, one of mah favorite shows ever. So... yeah. Okay, I think that's all. Any other questions, I will be glad to answer! ; Ta!


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